Over the summer many of our players have been linked with moves, something we as Spurs fans have become all to familiar with. The rumours over Kyle Walker however were a bit different, not so much speculation over someone making a bid but more “When he joins Man City” like it was the worst kept secret in football.
Now he has moved the journalists have revealed in their articles that Walkers agent demanded more money from Spurs just two months after he signed a new deal due to the fact Man City were interested in his client, Spurs chairman Daniel Levy dismissed this request.
The player himself then began to behave in a way that caused tension, with even members of the first team squad like Harry Kane and captain Hugo Lloris speaking with the player. Eventually Pochettino and he had words about his attitude and the player didnt play a major game again last season being rotated so he didnt start against Arsenal, Chelsea or Man Utd.
This brings me to what is worrying about the ongoing Eric Dier rumour. Its is no longer just something thrown out there, it seems to be something that is sticking around and with the more time gains a momentum of his own with respected journalists now writing “source close to the player” like they did with Walker at the back end of last season.
Source close to the player = agent in case anyone was under any allusions. So why would a players agent be pushing for a move? In some cases for sure there is a large pay day however in this instance it seems actually more grounded in what the player himself wants.
Eric is a Manchester United fan from a family full of United fans and so the chance to sign for the club he supported as a boy is attractive. He has also gone on the record as being a fan of Jose Mourinho and now for that manager to be a big fan of his for sure will carry some weight.
The financial aspect of course cannot be ignored completely. Dier signed a new improved deal at Spurs last season taking him to £70,000 per week however at Manchester United he could easily earn double or more.
The main positive is that in all of the reports its constantly said that Dier likes Pochettino, likes his team mates and enjoys playing for Tottenham so is unlikely to act out to force his move and acting out / handing in a transfer request seems to be the only way it is going to happen.
Daniel Levy rejected a £40m bid for Dier earlier in the window, since then Manchester United have openly courted the player via the media in the hope they can persuade him to force a move but Spurs have made it clear that he will not be sold for any fee.
So why would Manchester United continue to be keen? During a press conference in the USA Jose was asked about players and Gareth Bale came up. His answer was; “…we do not target him (Bale) as we hear things, we are told things and we know he is happy there and not wanting a move so why waste our time making bids….”
Taking that as read, where Man Utd will not keep perusing someone they know they have no chance of getting why is it, when Spurs have rejected a bid are they continuing to pursue Dier? Its because they know the player would sign and the agent would move the deal forward.
I see no good thing here for Spurs. If we hold firm and force Dier to stay, should he demand to move how will that effect the squad. Yes he is not causing problems now, will that last? How will it effect other players at the club such as his best friend Dele Alli.
On the flip side how would him leaving effect the team? The message sent to the players… again his best friend Dele learning his mate has more than doubled his money.
For me, we need to keep the player. We need to stick to our guns, even if he hands in a request. We as a club have allowed Walker to leave because Pochettino wanted him gone. The manager likes and wants to keep Dier and so we must.
