Eric Dier to Bayern Munich: How the hell did that happen?
Bayern Munich have unveiled Eric Dier as the newest member of their first team.
Anything is possible in the year 2024.
Dier's nine-and-a-half year career at Tottenham Hotspur is hanging by a loose loan thread — Bayern have the option to sign him permanently and there's almost certainly no way back for him at Spurs — but there was a time where he was more of an understandably highly-coveted asset.
So how did Dier go from a Swiss Army Knife defensive player who was adored by England and Tottenham fans to a surprise pickup by Bayern?
Dier's 2014 move from Sporting CP to Tottenham came without much fanfare and was a public saga open and closed quite quickly. Within days of news emerging of a potential deal, the then-20-year-old was a Spurs player, becoming the third of Mauricio Pochettino's six summer signings during his first pre-season.
Pochettino had been desperate to find a centre-back to partner Jan Vertonghen, and Villarreal's Mateo Musacchio was his preferred target. Tottenham eventually settled on an uneven compromise of the slow and languid Federico Fazio, which allowed the spritely Dier — signed to provide cover and depth — to stake a claim.
He was first drafted in as an emergency right-back for Spurs' first game of the 2014/15 season after Kyle Naughton picked up an early red card, eventually scoring the winner in stoppage time on the end of an assist from future Bayern teammate Harry Kane. Dier impressed in this new role owing to his physicality and wicked cross, playing there for 21 of his 35 games that season.
Dier's spell at right-back effectively came to an end when Tottenham poached Kieran Trippier from relegated Burnley in June 2015, turning him into Kyle Walker's reliable understudy.
Though Dier would almost
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