Another key player of the Mauricio Pochettino era at Tottenham Hotspur is out the door. Four months since Harry Kane’s departure and weeks after Hugo Lloris announced he was leaving the club, Spurs announced Eric Dier’s sale to Bayern Munich on a short term contract to the end of the season.
We have reached agreement with Bayern Munich for the loan of Eric Dier for the remainder of the season, with an option to make the move permanent.
We wish @EricDier all the very best for the future
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) January 11, 2024
Dier’s deal is a bit of a weird one, but also one that should make everyone involved happy. According to Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg, Dier is signing with Bayern Munich on a loan to the end of this current season when his contract expires, but with an option to make the signing permanent on a one year deal. If they do not use that option, then Dier can leave the club on a free and sign for whomever he wants. There is no upfront transfer fee but instead appearance and performance fees that could rise as high as €3.5m over the course of his contract.
Excl. Details #Dier X FC Bayern:
➡️ Contract: 6 months until the end of the season + one-year option until 2025
➡️ Transfer fee: 0 € (!) / Bayern pays for matches and achievements after a specified period. The total amount should not exceed €3-3.5m.
Announcement soon.… pic.twitter.com/uMMgpeAIXI
— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) January 11, 2024
This brings to a close one of the last remaining key players from the Mauricio Pochettino era at Spurs that culminated with an appearance in the Champions League final in 2019. Out of that squad, only Ben Davies and Son Heung-Min remain as significant contributors to Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham team.
Now 29, Dier’s influence has waned since Pochettino walked the sidelines, but at his peak Dier was a key performer for Tottenham. He was signed as a defender (and his first appearance at Spurs was at right back against West Ham where he scored the winning goal) but played as a central defensive midfielder before eventually settling in as a central defender later in his tenure.
Dier was known as a solid professional and a real glue guy, both on the pitch and off it. He struck up a hilarious and genuinely touching friendship with Dele, was frequently featured in club socials, and was known as being a thoughtful and kind person off the pitch. Who can forget the time he raced off the pitch to use the restroom in the middle of a match, only to come back to score a penalty shootout goal to knock Chelsea out of the Carabao Cup? Or the time he took a vacation to Morocco via EasyJet? What about the time he charged into the Tottenham stands to confront a Spurs “fan” who was insulting his family? Or the time he put in an inch perfect tackle on Sergio Ramos for absolutely no reason while playing for England? Or how he used to spend non-training hours playing Settlers of Catan with the Belgian contingent?
Good times. I’m getting a bit misty.
You’ll likely see a whole bunch of the worst Spurs fans on the internet gleefully celebrating his departure because he no longer fits into this Tottenham side. That’s dumb. I choose to remember Eric Dier as a fantastic servant to the club. He did his job, rarely complained even when things were bad, got along well with his teammates, and always did his best even when it wasn’t quite enough.
He was a weirdo full of contradictions — an English born, non-homegrown defender-slash-midfielder who liked smoothies (and artichokes), Joe Rogan, board games, and pinging long balls from deep. A guy who flew commercial when it suited him, was friendly to fans, and “did his own research” from time to time. What a characters. He’s still got a few years of football left in him, and I hope he’s successful wherever he goes, and that he’ll still consider himself a Tottenham Hotspur well after he hangs up his boots.
Thanks for everything, Eric. Say hi to Harry for us.