Eric Dier arrived at Spurs over the summer for a modest £4 million fee and very few people had actually heard of him. The English-born defender had spent his youth and playing career in Portugal with Sporting Clube de Portugal and had largely gone under the radar. Nobody expected him to be anywhere near the first team this season but, in the absence of Kyle Walker on the opening day of the season, centre back Dier deputised at right back, performed admirably and scored the winning goal at West Ham United. He went on to score again against Queens Park Rangers in the next game and hasn't looked back since. He's been an almost permanent fixture in the team and his progress has to be admired. He's given his all and reaped the rewards. Most recently, such is his desire to succeed at Spurs, he requested that he leave England Under-21 duty to focus on earning a centre back place at the club. Manager Gareth Southgate allowed this to happen.
