To say that the West Ham fan response to being linked with Eric Dier was underwhelming would be an understatement.
The former Tottenham and England defender was linked with a move to the London Stadium by ExWHUEmployee, who first broke news of the Hammers’ interest. However, Sky Sports Germany have since weighed in, suggesting it is actually the player’s club, AS Monaco, who are offering Dier to West Ham United.
That in itself feels strange, given the 31-year-old is a regular starter for the French side. He recently featured in what was arguably Monaco’s most important game of the season, a 2–2 Champions League draw with Manchester City.
Why Would Dier Walk Away?
ExWHUEmployee has indicated the appeal for West Ham could be the opportunity for Irons boss Nuno Espírito Santo to link up with one of his former players. Dier is said to possess leadership qualities that are desperately lacking in Nuno’s side and, during his time at Spurs, he even captained England against Germany.
To a degree, many Hammers fans are turning their noses up at the idea of signing the former Bayern Munich man. He’s no world beater but Dier has spent most of his career playing at the top level and, in truth, he would likely represent an upgrade on West Ham’s current central defensive options.
The bigger question, though, is motivation. Why would Dier choose to walk away from Champions League football for the prospect of a relegation fight that looks increasingly difficult to avoid? That is the part of this story that simply does not add up.
| Club | Competition | Minutes | Starts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monaco | UEFA Champions League | 180′ | 2 |
| Monaco | Ligue 1 | 540′ | 6 |
Maybe that Eric would prefer to live and work in London. Motivation enough.
A lot of fans didn’t want the experienced Xaha or Henderson, but both are leaders and doing well with their respective clubs. Had we signed one of them, at least we would have had valuable experience on the pitch and in the dressing room.
I have never been a fan of Dier, but if he helps us stay up that’s all that matters right now.
We have a good group of youth players coming through, and whether we go down or stay up we have hope for the future, as long as we don’t ignore them, but we need a blend of youth and experience, something Potter clearly didn’t see when he let Cresswell and Fabianski both leave!
“West Ham fans turn their noses up at Dier”. Just like we did with Grealish, Dewesbury-Hall and Calvert-Lewin in the summer…all enjoying decent seasons with their new clubs. I really do despair at a lot of West Ham fans. Were much more clueless than I we like to think.
Don’t think there is much substance to the story. There is no reason for Monaco to want to sell and anyway who is keeping Dier out of the Monaco starting lineup – Thilo Kehrer,
Agreed! Dier on his worst day is an upgrade to Killman or Mavrapanos at their best. As I keep saying though any contract needs to address the clubs rights and needs as well as the players, so don’t sign him up for 5 years.
This is chickens coming home to roost for the board and Nuno, over Christmas and New year realistically we should have won 4 games, we lost 3 and drew against Brighton. That was Nuno’s fault, with his negative tactics, a leopard doesn’t change its spots, as much as I dislike him, if we sell Paqueta we are as good as gone because we can’t replace him, no one wants a half season relegation battle and without him we won’t score enough goals. If City sign Anderson from Forest we will have a decent chance but they will be thinking the same if we sell Paqueta they will know they are safe.
We are left now trawling the bargain basement and hoping the bottom dwellers will come.
“Dier has spent most of his career playing at the top level and, in truth, he would likely represent an upgrade on West Ham’s current central defensive options.”
We all know it wouldn’t be difficult to be better than our current defenders. And I agree with Ryan Chapman that he would help with team leadership, something we are desperately lacking. It’s a YES from me!
Presumably we could offer a loan with an obligation to buy if we stay up? As you say, he offers leadership and experience, play him alongside Todibo and we might be onto something. And if there was a longer stay, then having him involved with the development of Casey, Mayers etc might prove to be beneficial.
Would be a very bad move , leave well alone !
To be fair he is an experienced premier league player, I think he could bring some much needed knowledge how to our very weak defence.
Maybe he wants to return to England, West Ham have had a decent relationship with Monaco and London is his preferred destination. In any case we should be biting Monaco’s hand off, as he is a big upgrade on what we have, he has the ability to shout at his teammates who are not pulling their weight and still has a few years at the top level. I would be pleased if he comes to West Ham.
Dier plays alongside ex Hammer Thilo Kehrer at Monaco
Dier is an upgrade on the dross we currently have at centre back for us. He is also vocal and a leader. Traits that Todibo, Kilman and Mavrapanos do not possess
Nobody wants to join whu.
Nuno should have thought about this before shipping number of players out.
Whichever way they turn it’s a NO.
Need to stay away from injuries as there’s no backup.
Certainly an upgrade on Kilman.
He was the scapegoat at Spurs so they got rid. Was never a world beater but would be an enormous upgrade on what we have. Could be the key to staying up.
Only one reason Nuno wants Dier. Dier grew up in Portugal. He is fluent in Portuguese.
You know what, I’d actually take Dier I was one of the ones who wrote off when we signed Craig Dawson and that’s shown to me to not write off signings before they’ve signed he could actually add some valuable experience and potentially come in and help Bowen out leadership wise him next to Todibo could be really good and he was playing for Bayern Munich a few seasons ago and seemed alright and he’s been alright at Monaco as you would say Gonzo he’s probably a bit like a Swiss Army knife player as he can also fill in as a central defensive midfielder where he’s been playing for Monaco so if it’s a cheap enough deal to do I’d actually take him all day long.
Morning Ryan.
Look, he’s not the best but he’s highly likely to be better than what we have currently. We’re not signing Charlie Cresswell because we’re awful and at this point, I’m surprised anyone wants to join.
Morning mate.
Yeah it’s not ideal but like you say it’s better than what we’ve currently got and at the moment we’re not a attractive proposition so we are limited in that regard, yeah I’m surprised also that anyone would even want to join maybe Dier sees us a steppingstone to potentially get himself back into contention for the England squad
Morning mate
Yeah it’s not ideal but unfortunately we are where we are and we’re just not an attractive proposition at the minute, maybe Eric Dier wants to sign with the intention of trying to get back into contention for the England squad which I don’t necessarily mind as that’s the best we’re going to get at the minute. I really wish they’d just went and got Charlie Cresswell in the summer but as per usual the club has to mess about like they do and they obviously had the money to spend because they’re spending it now so they could’ve spent money on Cresswell in the summer.