It’s not such Dier news for West Ham in a triple transfer boost thanks to the Spurs outcast after overnight developments.
West Ham were linked with a free transfer move for Eric Dier from bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur this week.
Football Transfers claimed West Ham – who are looking for a new centre-back – wanted the Spurs and England man in the January transfer window after he was frozen out by Ange Postecoglou.
It is fair to say the prospect of signing much-maligned Dier did not go down well among many West Ham fans.
Not just because of the rivalry between the Hammers and Tottenham but more so the question marks over his quality with supporters labelling him ‘Eric Dire‘.
Not such Dier news for West Ham
Postecoglou was even asked whether Dier could be on his way to West Ham this week, responding: “No idea. Not on my radar.”
Dier is the latest in a long line of centre-backs being linked with the Hammers after the departure of Thilo Kehrer and amid the potential exit of Nayef Aguerd.
Bayer Leverkusen’s Jonathan Tah, Fulham’s Tosin Adarabioyo, Wolves’ Max Kilman and others have been named as West Ham targets as well as the Tottenham defender.
Well there’s not such Dier news for West Ham in a triple transfer boost thanks to the Spurs outcast.
Triple transfer boost thanks to Spurs outcast
Because as reported overnight by a host of outlets, including The Guardian, Dier has agreed a move to German giants Bayern Munich.
And the move has real significance for West Ham own’s January hopes.
Firstly it will please supporters who were very much against the idea of bringing Dier to the London Stadium.
But Bayern were also said to be rivalling West Ham for not one but two of their centre-back targets in Tah and Adarabioyo.
Tah Eric
90min recently claimed the Hammers want to sign Fulham defender Adarabioyo, who was also linked with a move from west to east London in the summer.
But Fussball Transfers claimed the Cottagers star was on Bayern’s hit list as they look for cover with South Korea’s Kim Min-jae and Morocco’s Noussair Mazraoui at the Asian Cup and AFCON respectively.
The Evening Standard has reported Tah is West Ham’s prime target in January.
He is a player technical director Tim Steidten knows well from their time together at Leverkusen. So reports that Bayern also want to sign Tah were concerning for the Hammers’ plans.
Dier’s imminent move to Bayern will end interest in both those targets though, clearing the path for West Ham to try and sign one of them.
If they manage it, the Hammers owe Dier a big than you.
Mistaken ‘homegrown’ belief
There had been a mistaken belief among some Hammers fans that the move for Dier tallied up due to West Ham’s desperation to sign players who meet the Premier League’s homegrown status criteria.
But that is a complete red herring.
For a player to be considered homegrown, they must have played for a club affiliated to the English Football Association for at least three years before turning 21. Crucially, though, they do not have to be English and, conversely, being English does not make you homegrown either.
Despite being born in Cheltenham and having 49 caps for England, Dier does not count as homegrown.
Because the soon-to-be 30-year-old came through the academy ranks of Sporting Lisbon in Portugal before joining Spurs aged 20.
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