Spurs Transfers: Gareth Southgate Backs Eric Dier Move

England Under-21 manager and former England centre back Gareth Southgate has spoken out in favour of Eric Dier's transfer to Tottenham Hotspur. The England Under-21 defender moved to the Premier League club this summer from Sporting Clube de Portugal and Southgate thinks it's good that the player wants to test himself in the best league in the world. Speaking to the F.A.'s official website, Southgate said:

I know Eric was keen to come back to England, he had a difficult season last year when he didn't get a lot of first team football in Lisbon. He€™s a young centre-back who will mature but he plays in a position which takes time to develop so it€™s an interesting move for him to test himself over here.

Southgate has given Dier four of his five Under-21 caps - with Peter Taylor having given him his debut prior to his appointment - and, while he didn't mind the fact that Dier had been playing in Portugal, he feels as though he will get to see more of him in England.

We monitored him very closely when he was in Lisbon and I didn€™t mind the fact he was over there. In fact, I thought it was a real positive for us to have a player playing abroad. To try and get into the first team at Spurs will be a big challenge for him, but he might feel that it helps his cause because it€™s easier for us to get to see him.

Southgate will be naming his squad for the trips to Lithuania and Moldova in the UEFA Under 21 Championship Qualifiers on Thursday the 28th August and it will be interesting to see if Dier makes the cut. Feel free to have your say on this matter in the comments section below. And also feel free to follow me on Twitter!