Tottenham could do without Eric Dier

It would have felt more like blasphemy to say it last summer compared to this summer, but it isn’t unfair to say that Tottenham could survive Eric Dier’s hypothetical departure.

Rumors continue to mount that Jose Mourinho and Manchester United are gearing up an offer for Tottenham’s versatile defender after they failed to convince Chelsea to part with Nemanja Matić.

Thus far Spurs seem reluctant to even consider the possibility, especially as negotiations reportedly continue for Kyle Walker’s transfer to Manchester City.

As the transfer window wears on without any moves whatsoever from Spurs, the pressure will continue to mount on the cash-conscious club. Funds need to be added to the kitty if Mauricio Pochettino can reinforce his squad.

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Which, on the surface, sounds contradictory. Why sell two of the most valuable members of the defense only to go out and buy their replacements? Wouldn’t it be easier to simply keep hold of them, even if it means a quiet transfer window?

The answer is both yes and no. Walker and Dier are important parts of Pochettino’s setup, and both expected to regularly start in the final months of last season.

At the same time, though, their value has never been higher. Both players are English, which adds millions to the transfer fee for clubs like City who are more pressed than Spurs to meet the FA’s homegrown quotas. They are also before or at their prime, playing their best football yet. They represent upgrades across the board for virtually any Premier League team that can afford them.

Add to that that, despite starting regularly in the season’s second half, Dier feels auxiliary at this point. Victor Wanyama is Pochettino’s preferred option in defensive midfield, where Dier finally found traction after a first season spent mostly on the bench.

Even when he again worked his way back into the starting XI, he was easily the third most important member of Pochettino’s revamped three-man defense. Which isn’t to say that he was poor — indeed he seems uniquely tuned into being the wide member of a back three — just that he was clearly the most dispensable between himself, Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld.

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Both Dier and Walker’s replacements would, in theory, come far cheaper, especially if they were sourced from outside England. Seeing as how the rumored combined fee is somewhere in the range of £80 to £100 million, that leaves a lot left to bolster additional areas of the squad, most notably central midfield and striker.

So while losing Dier isn’t ideal, it would provide Spurs plenty of lemons with which to make lemonade.