When Tottenham Hotspur accepted an offer from Bayern Munich for Eric Dier during the January transfer window, they probably didn’t anticipate that this most unexpected of mid-season moves could pave the way for a £68 million centre-half to join their bitter rivals Arsenal a few months down the line.
But with HITC Football understanding that Arsenal are being kept informed of Matthijs de Ligt’s situation at the reigning (and maybe soon to be former) Bundesliga champions, Spurs may have inadvertently set the ball rolling, sparking a chain of events which sees the talented Dutchman end up a few miles down the road at the Emirates Stadium.
De Ligt had already slipped behind Dayot Upemcano and Kim Min-Jae in Thomas Tuchel’s pecking order. With the latter unavailable after the Asian Cup, it felt significant that it was Dier – rather than De Ligt – who was promoted to the starting XI for Saturday’s trip to table-toppers Bayer Leverkusen.
Arsenal keeping tabs on Matthijs de Ligt situation
Tuchel played down speculation surrounding the former Ajax captain’s future a few weeks ago.
But actions speed louder than words. And the sight of De Ligt twiddling his thumbs on the Bay Arena bench as Dier and co were torn to pieces by Leverkusen’s lethal frontline will not have gone unnoticed across the Channel.
HITC has been told that, in addition to Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United – who’s coach Erik ten Hag handed De Ligt the armband while still a teenager at Ajax – are also in the mix should the £68 million signing from Juventus become available in the summer.
Unhappy and out of the Bayern Munich XI
There is of course, the Tuchel factor to consider here. De Ligt is unhappy with life under the former Chelsea boss. Understandably so given that he’s started only eight out of 21 Bundesliga games.
But if you were to place bets on who is more likely to depart Bayern in the coming months, you’d be forgiven for putting the house on the increasingly under-fire Tuchel, with a change in the dugout likely to lead to a change of circumstances for De Ligt too.
As things stand, however, things appear to be getting worse rather than better. Not just for the benchwarming centre-half but for his embattled coach too, with the arrival of Eric Dier from one North London club potentially opening the door for another centre-back to make a trip in the other direction.
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