Steve Nicol has expressed his surprise at the possibility that Eric Dier could be leaving Tottenham Hotspur for Bayern Munich during the January transfer window.
Sources have told HITC Football that Eric Dier has held talks with Bayern Munich about a move to the German giants.
The Bundesliga side already have Tottenham’s number on speed dial after securing a big-money transfer for Harry Kane in the summer.
If this deal goes through, it won’t be as big because the 29-year-old has six months remaining on his Spurs contract.
Whilst Liverpool legend Steve Nicol acknowledged that Eric Dier is a top player, he just thinks his lack of mobility and speed will cause him issues in Bayern’s system, as he told ESPN.
Under Ange Postecoglou, the versatile defender has only played 198 minutes of football and it’s pretty clear the new Spurs boss just doesn’t fancy him.
That was further proven by the Australian saying he could do without Eric Dier when stand-in centre-back Ben Davies picked up a hamstring injury.
Spurs are limited at centre-half this season, with injuries and suspensions all playing their part, but it seems as though Eric Dier could still be heading for the exit door despite all of that.
Eric Dier at Bayern Munich
“I am shocked Bayern Munich are interested in Eric Dier,” said Nicol. “Is he going to play? Where is he going to play? How is he going to play?
“Listen, Upamecano hasn’t been having the greatest of times. But, if nothing else, he can run and he can recover. I mean Eric Dier can’t run. If you play him in the middle of the park, the argument is that he can’t get around sharp enough because teams are generally breaking on Bayern Munich. None of that includes Eric Dier as your defensive midfielder being able to cope with that.
“That’s why I am making the face and thinking ‘why?’ – if they told us he was going to Manchester United, we would say ‘there is no way he is making Man United better’, so how does he fit in at Bayern Munich?
“None of us are saying Eric Dier is a bad player. We aren’t saying that. But what we are saying is the job he is going to have to do, for Bayern, he isn’t capable of doing it. When he was playing centre-back for Spurs, he was playing in a defensive team (under Conte and Mourinho), so he had people around him.”
Eric Dier needs a fresh start
People need to remember that Dier has 49 caps for England for a reason and has played 364 games for Spurs, including in the Champions League.
He can play at right-back, centre-half and in the middle of the park. His qualities are endless, in that regard.
Yes, things haven’t gone for him as he would have liked this season, but he is still at the peak of his powers.
In a more dominant team like Bayern, there is no reason why he can’t do the business for Thomas Tuchel, who would have seen a lot of him when he was the Chelsea manager.
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