English defensive starlet Eric Dier has revealed a move to Manchester United, the club he supported as a boy, would be difficult to turn down, but admitted that life at Sporting Lisbon is still enjoyable. The Portuguese club beat off competition from Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal for the starlet.
The 16-year-old moved to Portugal eight years ago and began playing in the Sporting Lisbon youth Academy before signing professional terms last year. He has since worked his way up the ranks at the Estadio Jose Arvalade performing at under-15, under-17 and under-19 level.
Indeed such has been the youngster's progress that scout Paulo Cardoso, the man responsible for alerting Manchester United to Cristiano Ronaldo's abilitry, has tipped Dier to be a fantastic future centre-back at international level.
Sporting Lisbon secured the long term future of the stopper amid speculation that Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, and Spurs manager Harry Redknapp were aware of the player’s qualities.
Speaking to BBC SPORT Dier made clear that despite growing up in Portugal he was solely focused on representing England:
"For sure. I think it is the dream of any kid to play for England and play for your country."
However, the youngster also spoke about how much he was enjoying life in Portugal, stating:
“I love the training, the Portuguese people, the Portuguese culture. Everything about this place I like.
"I've never seen the need to move from Sporting to anywhere in England or any other country because Sporting has a great history of bringing players up to play in the first team and go on to play in great clubs in Europe.
"People tell me about players who have gone to places like Arsenal and Chelsea and had to come back looking for clubs because they've got nowhere to play."
Dier does admit that if he received an offer from boyhood club Manchester United it would hard to turn down.
"If the offer came today, I wouldn't say I'd take it because I'm not sure it's the right time," he insisted.
"But if I cemented a place in Sporting's first team and felt I was ready, then it would be very hard to turn down".
Dier said on signing for Sporting Lisbon, “I feel very fortunate to have such a fantastic opportunity here for me at a massive club like Sporting Lisbon, I’m just going to work hard at my game and look to push on to the First Team squad in the next couple of years.
“My first targets are to cement my place in the U’19 team, and hopefully put myself in consideration for an England junior cap back home. ”
Dier comes from a sporting family with hisgGrandfather Ted Croker and uncle Peter playing for Charlton Athletic while his father was a professional tennis player.
English wonderkid: United would be hard to turn down 14 October 2010 - 10:49 | Sport.co.uk
Had not heard of this lad before.
The 16-year-old moved to Portugal eight years ago and began playing in the Sporting Lisbon youth Academy before signing professional terms last year. He has since worked his way up the ranks at the Estadio Jose Arvalade performing at under-15, under-17 and under-19 level.
Indeed such has been the youngster's progress that scout Paulo Cardoso, the man responsible for alerting Manchester United to Cristiano Ronaldo's abilitry, has tipped Dier to be a fantastic future centre-back at international level.
Sporting Lisbon secured the long term future of the stopper amid speculation that Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, and Spurs manager Harry Redknapp were aware of the player’s qualities.
Speaking to BBC SPORT Dier made clear that despite growing up in Portugal he was solely focused on representing England:
"For sure. I think it is the dream of any kid to play for England and play for your country."
However, the youngster also spoke about how much he was enjoying life in Portugal, stating:
“I love the training, the Portuguese people, the Portuguese culture. Everything about this place I like.
"I've never seen the need to move from Sporting to anywhere in England or any other country because Sporting has a great history of bringing players up to play in the first team and go on to play in great clubs in Europe.
"People tell me about players who have gone to places like Arsenal and Chelsea and had to come back looking for clubs because they've got nowhere to play."
Dier does admit that if he received an offer from boyhood club Manchester United it would hard to turn down.
"If the offer came today, I wouldn't say I'd take it because I'm not sure it's the right time," he insisted.
"But if I cemented a place in Sporting's first team and felt I was ready, then it would be very hard to turn down".
Dier said on signing for Sporting Lisbon, “I feel very fortunate to have such a fantastic opportunity here for me at a massive club like Sporting Lisbon, I’m just going to work hard at my game and look to push on to the First Team squad in the next couple of years.
“My first targets are to cement my place in the U’19 team, and hopefully put myself in consideration for an England junior cap back home. ”
Dier comes from a sporting family with hisgGrandfather Ted Croker and uncle Peter playing for Charlton Athletic while his father was a professional tennis player.
English wonderkid: United would be hard to turn down 14 October 2010 - 10:49 | Sport.co.uk
Had not heard of this lad before.
