No way, Jose: United give up pursuit of Tottenham’s Eric Dier

The life cycle of a typical transfer rumor isn’t much different than that of a mayfly. It’s born, often unobtrusively; flutters around madly for a while; and then dies quietly with few mourning its passing.

So it appears to be with the rumors linking Eric Dier to Manchester United. Despite a number of English papers breathlessly exhorting a possible bid of £60m for Spurs’ CB/DM utility player, the bottom line has always been Tottenham’s outright refusal to sell him. And if this article in the Mirror is anything to go on, it appears both United and the footballing media are finally figuring that out. Jose Mourinho, writes the deliciously-Scottish-named Hamish Mackay, is giving up on his pursuit.

Ironically, the £53m deal for Kyle Walker might have given United a sliver of hope that they might be able to get a big deal for Dier across the line, but the club line coming out of Hotspur Way has always been that players will only be sold when the club wants to sell them, and they don’t want to sell Dier at any price.

That’s obviously good for Spurs, even though £60m is a ludicrously big bid for Dier. Eric will undoubtedly play a huge role for Spurs next season, both as a midfield and central defense option. Plus it allows us Spurs fans to give the virtual middle finger to United, which is always a bonus. That was for trying to take Dier, and this is for Berbatov & Carrick!