Eric Dier defends young players and their huge transfer fees

ERIC DIER has defended young players and their huge fees and wages and claimed it is not their fault.

This summer saw transfer fees rise to new levels with the world-record £198million deal Paris Saint-Germain making with Barcelona for Neymar a major talking point. And the Tottenham midfielder has claimed it is not the players’ fault that some teams are ready to splash massive amounts of cash on them.

Dier told The Sunday Times: “It isn’t easy, people don’t realise how difficult it is for us to handle as a situation.

“At the end of the day we’re all the same, we’re normal human beings with a gift we’ve been given, so it’s very difficult to handle all of those situations that happen in football with money and fame etc.

“It’s not Ousmane Dembele’s fault that he’s good at football and someone (at Barcelona) is willing to pay £140million for him. It’s more to do with people way up the food chain.

“Everyone knows we are role models and we need to try to carry ourselves in the right way, because thousands or millions of kids are looking up to you in a sense.

“I think footballers in general as role models are really fantastic and I will say that for all the boys here (with England), I think everyone carries themselves really well.” Dier began his career in Portugal with Sporting Lison before moving to Spurs in 2014 for £4m.

But the England international was caught up in his own transfer saga earlier in the summer as he was a £50m target for Manchester United.

The switch never happened but Dier insists he never thought about the move and concentrated on his performances on the pitch.

Dier added: “I think it’s best if footballers worry about playing football.

“I take the philosophy that if I worry about the football everything else will take care of itself.”

From The Sun