German Sky Sports reporter Florian Platenberg, who is well-versed in the news of Bayern Munich, reported on his SNS account on the 6th (Korea Standard Time) that he had signed an oral contract with Eric Dier and Bayern Munich.
Platenberg is a reporter dedicated to Munich, and is well known among soccer fans as one of the most reliable reporters in the news related to Munich. He reported one after another the conditions he had reached with Munich, including transfer fees and salaries, until South Korean defender Kim Min-jae moved to Munich last summer.
“A verbal agreement has been reached between Eric Dier and Bayern Munich! Dier wants to join Munich right away,” he explained. “The contract period will be at least until 2025, and the transfer fee will be less than 5 million euros (about 7.2 billion won),” he added. “Coach Tuchel spoke with Dier. Munich plans to use Dier as a center back and defensive midfielder.”
“Tottenham also turned on the green light. Everything is ready. Munich only has to make a final decision on Dyer,” he said, signaling his imminent transfer. 스포츠토토
Dyer, born in 1994, was born in England but moved to Portugal at the age of 10 with his family. It was because his mother got a job to support the Portugal national team. Dyer’s mother worked as a support staff for the Portugal national team, which will compete in the UEFA Euro 2004. Dyer then joined the Portuguese academy and grew up.
Dyer grew up in Sporting all the time, with the exception of a one-year loan at Everton in the summer of 2011, and made his professional debut at Sporting in 2012. Based on his performance at this point, Dyer joined Tottenham in the summer of 2014 and has played in 364 games at Tottenham alone so far.
Dyer initially played as a defensive midfielder for Tottenham but also as a centre-back from the 2016-2017 season. As a centre-back with Davinson Sanchez, who joined Tottenham this season, as well as Jan Perton and Toby Alderweireld, he played as a starting centre-back until the 2022-2023 season.
However, since the 2022-2023 season, Dyer has frequently displayed negativity in the game, including repeated mistakes and a drop in concentration, and fans have felt uneasy with his defensive performance.
Tottenham eventually acquired Mickey Van der Pen ahead of the 2023-2024 season to match Christian Romero in a new combination. Davinson Sanchez was also sent to Galatasaray (Turkiye), but Dyer remained quiet in the team.
Tottenham, which had been showing solid defense since the opening of the season, recently fell into a quagmire of three consecutive losses due to the collapse of its defense. Key defender Mickey Van der Pen has been out of the team due to injury, and vice-captain Christian Romero has been suspended for three games due to direct exit.
With the two players missing, Tottenham failed to keep the first goal in all three games until Chelsea (1-4), Wolverhampton Wanderers (1-2), and Aston Villa (1-2).
When two key center backs were unavailable, Tottenham later started Eric Dier and Ben Davies. Despite being a professional center back, Dier was not trusted by the club to the extent that he was excluded from the starting line-up at the 13th round of the league against Villa on the 26th.
Despite the collapse of the center back this season, Dyer has played only four league games and 198 minutes, which is considered a de facto non-power resource.
German Bundesliga champion Bayern Munich showed interest when Dyer was judged to be out of his power. As key center back Kim Min-jae left the club to participate in the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup, Munich tried to resolve Kim Min-jae’s gap and strengthen the midfield with Dyer, who can see both the center back and defensive midfielder positions.
British media “Football Insider” said on the 5th, “Tottenham defender Dyer has agreed to transfer to Munich,” adding, “Dyer, who has left Tottenham’s power, has come close to a shocking transfer to Munich and he will reunite with former Tottenham teammate Harry Kane.”
“Dear has made up his mind to move to Munich with a deal fully supported by Kane, and when Tottenham completes the recruitment of a new defender, the deal will be concluded,” he said, adding that he is in line with Tottenham’s transfer market situation.
“Tottenham is satisfied with sending Dyer because the Dyer contract will be completed at the end of this season,” the media said, adding, “But Tottenham will prevent his transfer to Munich if they fail to secure a replacement for defenders.”
“Bayern Munich is discussing Tottenham defender Eric Dier as one of several center-back options,” global media “The Athletic” also reported on the 5th. “His transfer will take place this January, and it will be a permanent contract, not a loan.”
Munich, which is trying to win the Bundesliga for 12 consecutive years, started the 2023-24 season with only three first-team centerbacks, including Kim Min-jae, Dayo Upamecano and Matheis Diricht. Prior to the opening of the season, full-back Josip Stanisic, who can also play as a center back, was sent to Bayer Leverkusen on loan, and both Luca Hernandez (PSG) and Bangjamain Favar (Inter Milan) were sent out, resulting in a lack of defensive resources.
In the end, Munich paid a price for recruiting only Kim Min-jae for the center back post in the summer. During the first half of the season, Durricht was out of the team’s capacity due to partially ruptured ligaments in his right knee, and Upamecano was also replaced during the match, not knowing when he would suffer a muscle injury. Even Tarek Buchman, a promising center back born in 2005, is said to be out until February 2024 as he underwent surgery for a torn thigh muscle.
It was the only healthy center back, Kim Min-jae, who was overloaded. With his teammates injured, Kim Min-jae, the only first-team center back, had to play full-time in every game, and he played full-time in as many as 15 consecutive games before the UEFA Champions League group match against Copenhagen in November last year due to a hip contusion.
Diricht recently returned from injury, but Kim Min-jae joined the South Korean national soccer team for the Asian Cup, leaving a gap in the defense again. Since the Asian Cup is a continental championship recognized by FIFA, the team cannot reject the national team’s request to recruit players.
If South Korea advances to the finals on Feb. 11 at the Asian Cup, Munich will have to play up to five games in the league without Kim Min-jae (Hofenheim, Werder Bremen, Augsburg, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Bayer Leverkusen).
This means that Munich will have to start the second half with two centre-backs, Upamecano and Diricht, for up to a month. Munich looked for a new defender in the winter as it would be a huge blow if either of them were injured.
Dyer, who Munich selected as the final player, was highly praised for being a backup resource capable of multi-positioning, although there are question marks over his performance. Munich tried to recruit Portuguese midfielder João Palinha (Pulum) to reinforce its No. 6 midfield position last summer, but it failed. If the recruitment is successful, Dyer is expected to fill the gap in the center back and defensive midfielder position.
Tottenham are also preparing to part ways with Dyer. Dyer’s contract expires on June 30, and Munich has expressed interest in signing him, allowing him to release a player who is only six months away from qualifying as a free agent for a transfer fee.
Tottenham excluded Dyer from the list in the third round (round of 64) of the FA Cup in the 2023-24 season against Burnley at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England on the 6th. Without Dyer, Tottenham succeeded in advancing to the next round with a new 1-0 victory.
Prior to the match against Burnley, Fabrizio Romano, a reporter familiar with the European football transfer market, said, “Dier was not included in Tottenham’s squad because he agreed with Bayern Munich tonight,” and explained that Dier, who has played for Tottenham since 2014, is on the verge of a transfer after about 10 years.
Meanwhile, Tottenham is reportedly planning to recruit Romanian former Genoa center back Radu Dragucine for a new centre-back resource if Dyer leaves.
Appearing on the British media Cutoffside Podcast on the 4th, reporter Romano said Tottenham and Genoa are making progress in negotiating the Dragucine transfer fee. He said on the broadcast, “I think it’s more than a possibility. The deal is going well and improving. It’s not confirmed yet, but it is.”
“There are constant talks between Tottenham and Genoa. From what I hear, the talks are very positive. Dragushin also agreed to a contract with Tottenham a few days ago. Coach Ange Postecoglou also approved the agreement,” he said.
However, the key to the deal is to negotiate the transfer fee. Romano said, “Genoord wants about 30 million euros. They started at 35 million euros. It came down to 30 million euros. Tottenham offered 23 million euros.”
“We are currently only in contact through dialogue and have no official offer so far. However, positive talks are continuing and the relationship between the two clubs is very good. That is why I think it is a good opportunity for Tottenham to recruit Dragucine in the coming days,” he said, highly predicting the possibility of recruiting him.
Tottenham is concentrating on strengthening its center back in the transfer market this winter. Key center backs Mickey Van der Pen and Christian Romero have both collapsed due to hamstring injuries, leaving only Eric Dier as a professional center back. Recently, Tottenham faced difficulties in forming a starting line only with full-back resources. Tottenham caught their eye as Romanian handsome center back Dragushin, born in 2002.
He is a young player who is now 21 years old, but he is playing as a key defender of Genoa, playing 17 Serie A matches full time this season. Regarding his performance, soccer statistics media “Squaka” said, “Dragushin has won the most (53 times) in the air ball competition among Serie A defenders this season,” adding, “And he has allowed dribble breakthrough only once so far.”
Reporter Romano also reported on his SNS account on the 31st of last month that “I understand that Tottenham has agreed on personal terms for a long-term contract with Radu Dragucine,” and that Dragucine is close to moving to Tottenham. However, Dragucine’s agent Florin Manaea showed a different idea. He talked about Dragucine’s future on TV Play in Italy.
“Dragusin doesn’t think about money at all. He only thinks about the growth prospects and the team he can play for,” Manaea said. “We’ve had contact from many teams in Saudi Arabia. But Dragusin didn’t want to hear from them at all.”
“I have never personally heard from Napoli, AS Roma or AC Milan. Dragushin is not thinking about leaving Genoa during the season. Moving during the season would be like leaving Dragushin with unfinished business,” he said. “I have been in contact with Premier League clubs including Tottenham, but he has no intention of leaving at the moment.”
Genoa seems to have no intention of selling Dragucin at a cheap price. Even considering Dragucin is young as he was born in 2002, the transfer fee that Genoa is asking for is relatively high. Dragucin is from Juventus Youth, a prestigious Italian Serie A club. He was loaned to Genoa, which was a member of Serie B in the second division, and moved to the club for 5.5 million euros in January last year. Despite playing as a defender last season, he scored four goals. Genoa ranked second in the league and won promotion to the first division.
This season, Dragushin is playing full time as a starting member. He blocked Serie A strikers from dribbling and displayed strength in competition for aerial ball games. Standing 191 centimeters tall, he stood out in one-on-one marks and set piece offense. In Italy, he focused on a large center back to succeed Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), who was selected as Serie A’s best defender last season.
However, it has been only a year and a half since Dragushin properly played in Serie A. Prior to joining Genoa, he played in Serie A for six months as a loan player at Sampdoria and Salernitana, but he was not a regular player. It is greed to wish for as much as 50 billion won while giving up a player who is just blooming. For example, Kim Min-jae, who led Serie A team Napoli to win the league’s best defender award last season, spent 70 billion won on the move to Bayern Munich, Germany. Dragushin is still an incomparable prospect to Kim.
Even Tottenham accepted Dragucine’s request once. According to the Romanian ‘Pro Sport’ on the 1st, Dragucine passed the insertion of a buyout clause. The media said, “Considering the characteristics of Tottenham’s club that does not send players well, the agent requested the insertion of a buyout clause of 70 million to 80 million euros to facilitate transfer to big clubs in the future. Tottenham seems to have accepted this.” Since Tottenham is in an urgent situation, progress in negotiations seems to have meant that Tottenham has partially conceded.
Moreover, the current transfer market is moving under the sports director system of Johan Lange, who took office in November last year, not Daniel Levy. According to the British Telegraph, former general manager Fabio Paratici is also helping Tottenham’s transfer market. This means that there is more room for compromise than when Levy moves himself. If Paratici’s influence, who is fluent in Italian soccer, is also expected to be smooth in talks with Genoa.
The fact that Dragucine’s Italian agency is like Tottenham’s key goalkeeper Gugliimo Vicario also seems to have played a positive role in personal negotiations. With positive conversations coming and going, Tottenham is expected to be able to achieve its goal of reinforcing the center back soon.
In addition, Tottenham is expected to be able to make up for some of the transfer fee spent in the winter transfer market as Dyer is about to transfer to Munich for 5 million euros (about 7.2 billion won) ahead of the recruitment of Dragucine. Meanwhile, with the imminent recruitment of Dragucine, the recruitment of French centerback Jean-Claire Todibo (OGCnis), which Tottenham had initially placed as the top recruitment priority, is presumed to have ended completely.
Born in 1999 in Nice, French center back Todibo was the top player on the Tottenham defender recruitment list. Standing 195 centimeters tall and quick with feet, Todibo has been at the core of Nice’s defense and has given up just nine runs in 17 league games to rank No. 1 in minimum runs this season.
Tottenham moved quickly to recruit Todibo, who has been showing excellent performance this season, but other clubs also faced difficulties as they showed interest in recruiting Todibo. According to the British media “TBR Football,” Manchester United, which is currently a Premier League rival, is also interested in Todibo, and the transfer fee required for recruitment could reach 52 million pounds (about 85.6 billion won) as competition intensifies. Another big variable is that the owner of Todibo’s current team Nice is Jim Ratcliffe, who recently acquired a 25% stake in Manchester United. In other words, it is difficult for Nice to give Todibo to Manchester United’s rival Tottenham.
Regarding Todibo, reporter Romano said on the 30th of last month, “I understand Tottenham wants to sign a new center-back contract by next week,” adding, “We are talking to Jean Clare Todibo, but if it doesn’t happen, Tottenham has other plans.” Tottenham finally turned from Todibo to Dragushin. Recently, he said, “The Jean-Clair Todibo deal has not changed, and it has almost collapsed,” predicting that Todibo’s transfer to Tottenham this winter is very unlikely.