Bayern Munich have agreed to sign centre-back Eric Dier from Tottenham Hotspur for €4m.
Dier has been on the books at Tottenham for almost a decade and was a key player for the Lilywhites during Mauricio Pochettino’s tenure at the club – starring in the middle of the park alongside Mousa Dembele.
The 29-year-old has made over 350 appearances for Spurs but has seen his game time reduced dramatically under new manager Ange Postecoglou. Dier has started just one Premier League game despite injuries to Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven, with full-backs Emerson Royal and Ben Davies picked ahead of him in their absence.
Bayern have long been targeting a new centre-back and Sky Sports have confirmed that a deal worth €4m (£3.4m) is in place, with Dier having already agreed personal terms ahead of a medical.
The 29-year-old told reporters of his impending move that “FC Bayern is an amazing club. Amazing!” and he will reunite with Harry Kane in Bavaria – England’s captain made the move last summer and has made a record-breaking start after scoring 21 goals in his first 15 Bundesliga games.
Speaking about Dier’s imminent move, Thomas Tuchel told his press conference on Thursday morning: “From experience, we know things can go wrong in the final seconds. He is in Munich and we are trying to finalise the deal and find another alternative in the defensive position in our squad. But I’d like to wait before the ink has dried.
🚨🎥 EXCLUSIVE NEWS ERIC DIER: He’s a new player of FC Bayern!
➡️ He has arrived at the airport now!
➡️ Medical today!Dier told me: „FC Bayern is an amazing club. Amazing!“ #THFC@SkySportDE 🏴 pic.twitter.com/ckq8VS2yuW
— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) January 11, 2024
“I think that he is more or less a specialist in the central defensive role. He’s played as a holding midfielder in the past. He can play as part of a back four and three at the back so we can free up Leon Goretzka in midfield so he doesn’t have to switch between playing as a No 8 and being deeper.
“We’re still focusing on other positions and we’ll see if anything else happens.”
Due to Kim Min-jae’s Asian Cup commitments with South Korea and Matthijs de Ligt’s knee ligament injury, Tuchel has been key to add a centre-back during the January transfer window.
The club had also made a bid to sign Romania international Radu Dragusin from Genoa, but they were beaten to his signing by Tottenham – a deal worth in excess of €30m has been agreed in addition to Djed Spence moving the other way on loan.
