Chelsea, Bayern target ‘unhappy’ Eric Dier

We’re still several weeks away from the January transfer window, yet the rumor mill has already started grinding its gears. Our very own Eric Dier is the subject of today’s spiciest gossip as he’s reportedly drawn the interest of both Chelsea and Bayern Munich.

The news appears to have originated in The Times, which claims the two European giants are “among several leading clubs” monitoring Dier’s situation.

The England midfielder is unhappy at the amount of game time that he has been given by Mauricio Pochettino this season and is concerned that it could hamper his international prospects under Gareth Southgate, the new manager.

There’s a lot to parse from that paragraph, but we’ll start with the most obvious one: the “lack of playing time.” Dier has been almost ever present for Spurs this season, featuring in 13 of 15 games in the league and five of six in the Champions League. The majority of that has been in defense, especially since Toby Alderweireld went down with a long-term injury.

Matt Hughes, the Times writer, appears to be insinuating that holding midfield is his favored position and he’s upset that Pochettino appears to favor Victor Wanyama in that role. That might be true, but I seriously doubt it’s enough for him to be agitated or concerned about playing time.

Just six weeks ago, the man himself told the Evening Standard he enjoys playing multiple positions, comparing himself to well-known Swiss Army knives David Alaba and Philipp Lahm.

“People always seem to want to pin me down to one position but I see players all over Europe who play in more than one. It ensures they get appearances for their clubs and it’s a fantastic weapon for a manager.

“It’s a bit stupid to be talking about it [playing in a specific position]. If I could get to the level of players like Alaba, Lahm or [Javier] Mascherano, I would be a very happy man.”

Dier has really taken advantage of his stretch covering for Alderweireld, developing into an extremely useful defender. He’s also likely to return to midfield this evening against Hull City having been rested for Sunday’s defeat to Manchester United.

The 22-year-old signed a new five-year deal in the summer which reportedly pays £70,000 a week, making him one of the club’s highest earners, so there’s little pressure on Spurs to sell him. Obviously, signing for a perennial Champions League contender like Chelsea or Bayern is enticing, but if he’s seriously worried about beating out Wanyama, does he really think he could start ahead of N’Golo Kanté on a regular basis? Also lol at the idea of Daniel Levy selling to Chelsea.

Lastly, the odds of him leaving his best buddy in the whole wide world are non-existent. So file this one under #batcountry and rest easy that Dier will be winding up opponents at Tottenham’s new stadium for years to come.