Spurs sprung a surprise this week, as they reached an agreement to sign 20-year-old centre back, Eric Dier, from Sporting Lisbon for a reported £4 Million fee. New manager, Mauricio Pochettino, has been on the look-out for a central defender – Tottenham have been linked with a succession of candidates from Toby Alderweireld to Ron Vlaar. Will the new signing fit the bill?
Why is he right for Spurs?
Dier has an unconventional background, having spent most of his formative years in Portugal despite having English parents. His family emigrated when he was seven, where his talent was spotted at a young age. He was lucky enough to progress through the respected Sporting Lisbon youth system, which has produced such luminaries as Luis Figo and Christiano Ronaldo.
It is this football education that marks him out among young English players. The Sporting academy, much like the Barcelona and Ajax equivalents, teaches the philosophy that all positions should learn good technique and be comfortable on the ball. Despite being a 6′ 2” central defender, Dier is no exception.
He also possesses surprising pace and is versatile enough to play at right back or even in midfield. This makes him the perfect fit for new Spurs coach Mauricio Pochettino’s system. The Argentine expects his centre backs to cover out wide as his fullbacks push up, and to be mobile enough to play a high defensive line. He also expects them to play the ball out from the back, not just punt it down the field (Michael Dawson, I’m looking at you).
In addition, as a right footer, Dier would make a natural partner to Jan Vertonghen.
At just 20, is he ready?
Sporting certainly thought so. He made 15 appearances in their first team last season and was being lined up to replace the likely departing Marcos Rojo – ironically linked with a move to Southampton. The Portuguese club didn’t want to sell – Tottenham’s bid activated a surprisingly low buy-out clause in Dier’s contract.
Spurs are apparently still interested in Villarreal centre back, Mateo Musacchio, so Dier may be more of a long term option. Whether he is quite ready for the rigours of the Premier League remains to be seen, but given his potential, this signing looks like shrewd business by Tottenham.
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Do you think Dier will make a good signing? Who else should Spurs be targeting? Please let us know your opinion in the comments section below.
Anything But Penalties 
A good buy for the long term so we can move Daws on but we still need a first string CB and LM
Alderweild seems the perfect buy for the Poch system
I agree. Often the most important thing for centre backs is the partnership between them and Alderweild knows Vertonghen from Ajax and the Belgium national team.
The fact he can also play right back is a huge bonus given the system.
I think getting Alderweild cud be the best business we do all summer!! Knows Jan and can cover RB and the system is perfect for the pair of them.
I’d be kinda happy if that was the last lot of business we done. Would still Like to see Konoplyanko though.
Speaking of long term, what a surprise to see Danny Rose offered a 5-year contract…
As for Alderweild, couldn’t agree more. But i have the impression that it would be tough prising him away from Athletico considering how all the big clubs want Miranda or Godin.
It was strange that Rose got an extension just after we signed Davies. Maybe Pochettino thinks he can improve him or, being cynical, perhaps it’s to increase his sell on value.
I agree Alderweild is a long shot. It’s too easy to get excited by transfer rumours!
I wasn’t aware about Miranda and Godin being courted by bigger clubs! So that basically puts a spanner in the works on Alderweild then!
Thing that’s worrying me more is the rumors that if we sign Musaccio off Villarreal, we’re willing to let Vertonghen go Barcelona. We need to keep our best players and not sell anymore if we want to be true contenders!
The only way I think it’s ok to sell our best players is if we fail to get CL and they’ve already given us a few seasons chance. eg. If we don’t get top 4 this season I think Lloris has given us a chance but needs to think about his own career. That’s why I hold no bad feelings towards Bale,cus he gave us another season wen it wud of been pretty fair to go after we sold VDV and Modric in the same window and didn’t get anyone in who was even close to their level! Dempsey,only reason levy signed him was cus he wanted to make a profit on Rafa!and that’s basically wats been holding us back ever since we qualified for the CL. Levy shud have spent whilst we had CL pull and we cud still have Bale and Modric playing for us now if we became a regular top 4 side. Problem is I can’t see levy going for it until the new stadium is built. So he needs to give Poch that time to build a squad that is 75% there and spend big wen the stadium is built to get the players in to complete the other 25% that will take us from 5th,6th to having a go at the title. But we will probably have another 2-3 managers in by the time the stadium is built!!!
Musacchio and Vertonghen together would be good, let’s hope that’s what the plan is.
We definitely need the new stadium as soon as possible – https://anythingbutpenalties.com/2014/07/13/spurs-new-stadium/
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