Dier and Dele: A Bromance...

Would Eric Dier be enough to keep Dele Alli at Spurs? Yep, I know what you’re thinking – slow news day, huh? 

But just think about it. Dele and Eric are best mates. They’re inseparable. We’ve all seen the videos of them winding each other up. There’s a serious bromance there. So, this begs the question: were Dele to have another superb season, and, say, Barcelona offered an insane amount for his services, would the thought of leaving Eric Dier be enough to persuade him to stay – for another season at least?

Last season, Alli gatecrashed an interview with Dier for Spurs TV, resulting in an otherwise serious interview with the Holding Midfielder, turning into a more light-hearted version, with neither Alli nor Dier being able to keep a straight face. 

When Dier got his revenge a few weeks later, he posed the question:

“What’s been the highlight of your year?” 

Alli, after a few seconds, responded: 

“Meeting you!” 

Dier laughed it off, commenting: “it’s emotional, it’s a bit emotional,” before asking for a serious answer. But jokes aside, there was sincerity in Alli’s answer and there’s little doubt that the meeting between the pair will have made the highlight’s reel of their respective years. 

The pair began to form their bond whilst forming an – at the time at least – unlikely midfield pairing. Alli was being slowly introduced to the team, with his ever-growing reputation forcing the boss to quickly give him a starting role, resulting in an alarmingly fast transition from League One football to the Premier League. Dier, however, had been filling the vacant Holding Midfield slot due to the club being unable to bring in cover for several injuries. 

Dier himself started a little shakily, with many fans questioning Pochettino’s decision to field the young Englishman in an unfamiliar position, especially in such an important area of the pitch. But he soon adapted and became a regular feature in the Spurs midfield and, in doing so, limiting the opportunities for the previous season’s breakthrough pairing, Ryan Mason and Nabil Bentaleb. 

In fact, it’s not against the realms of possibility that Eric Dier could attract the attention of other clubs. A regular at centre half for most of his debut season in North London, following Federico Fazio’s sudden omission from the first team. Versatile enough to slot in at right back if the occasion called for it, but Dier has now made the Holding Midfield role his own. 

His own rise to prominence has seen him become known as one of the best Defensive Midfielders in the league, and an ever-present fixture in the national team. 

Alli began his permanent starting role alongside Dier, with the reborn Mousa Dembele playing further ahead as the centrepiece of the attacking trio behind Kane. The pair even made their first England starts together at Wembley, vs upcoming (at the time) European Championship hosts France.

But before long, Alli’s attacking prowess saw him moved further forward, with Dembele returning to the Alli-shaped gap in central midfield. 

Following Alli’s wonder goal away at Crystal Palace in January 2016, there was a realisation among many that we were witnessing the emergence of a truly top class talent. The goal in question, where Alli controlled a knockdown from Christian Eriksen on his chest, before flicking the ball over both his own head, as well as Mile Jedinak’s, before unleashing a volley destined for the bottom corner, was voted Goal of the Season for 2015/16. 

Then the inevitable talk started. The general consensus was that, no disrespect to Spurs, but it probably wouldn’t be long until Barcelona or Madrid came calling. And as Leicester City have now shown, even winning titles doesn’t guarantee that your big players will stay. 

But even in a generation of Mario Balotelli’s and Raheem Sterling’s, players who it’s difficult to argue aren’t motivated solely by their bank balance, there’s still proof that a few young players exist who care more about their careers than their haircuts. Harry Kane, for example. 

That may be a biased example, coming from a Spurs fan, but the fact is he has distanced himself from a move away from White Hart Lane on multiple occasions and, providing Spurs don’t gradually slip down the league table, there’s a strong likelihood he’ll be at his boyhood club for the rest of his career. 

A less biased example, then, is Jamie Vardy. Although not such a youngster anymore, his rise to prominence hasn’t been dissimilar and many of us were not only surprised, but amazed to learn how close Leicester’s star striker is to the thirty mark – not just in goals, either. Vardy’s on-pitch attitude has remained that of somebody determined to not only reach the highest level, but also to stay there too. 

After much thought during the summer, Vardy chose to remain loyal to Leicester, the club that had been the catalyst for his explosion onto the world stage. This was at the cost of being offered the chance to lead the line for Arsenal, who it’s widely known have long needed an upgrade on their strike force. 

But back to Spurs, who have a past reputation for developing young stars before selling them off to Spain or Manchester for big bucks, unable to convince them that the club can go places. Dimitar Berbatov, Luka Modric and Gareth Bale are among a list of the world’s finest talents to have plied their trade at Hotspur way before seeking silverware in pastures new. 

Under Maurico Pochettino, however, this has been an entirely different story. This is largely because Pochettino likes to create a small squad full of players willing to fight for each other. The players brought in must have the correct attitude and temperament or are likely to find themselves frozen out, before being sold on.

This environment allows younger players to develop not only as footballers, but also as human beings. There is no room for big egos or players demanding large contracts in return for bench warming duty every weekend. This is an environment where players like Dele Alli and Eric Dier have thrived, and it seems that over the two years that the Argentine boss has been at the helm, the bigger players have quickly realised that their careers are in safe hands. 

Admittedly it’s still relatively early days, but come the end of the transfer window, if Spurs are to have made it three consecutive summers without a rising star deciding to better themselves elsewhere, it’s truly a good sign for the future. 

On the other hand, it’s not unusual for footballing friendships to follow each other to each club. It’s no coincidence that Brazilian left back Maxwell followed his close friend Zlatan Ibrahimović to most of the clubs that the Swedish star has played at. 

There’s also talk that a certain academy graduate from Hotspur Way, by the name of Tom Carroll, hasn’t been moved on yet due to his close friendship with Harry Kane.

Despite many fans of the club thinking Carroll simply isn’t up to the required standard and should be offered to other clubs, he remains happy to be a squad member and to fill in during early rounds of cup competitions. And if that helps to keep Kane happy, I’m not sure any of us will complain.