As per Football Insider, Manchester United have made a move to sign Tottenham and England midfielder Eric Dier.

The Premier League behemoths, who finished five points behind Spurs this season, have reportedly shortlisted the international midfielder as one of their targets to fill the anchorman role next term, joining an already extensive list of 60 players who have been linked with a move this summer.

United are preparing to reignite interest in Dier having already tried to sign him in the summer of 2017 when Jose Mourinho was in charge, with Mauricio Pochettino admitting at the time of the initial pursuit that it had destabilised the player. Obviously, a move never materialised, and the Reds signed Nemanja Matic from Chelsea for £40million, instead.

The Red Devils are somewhat struggling in the midfield department at the moment, with Scott McTominay, Fred, Matic and Pogba – whose immediate future at the club lies in doubt - the only viable options, while Andreas Pereira, a natural wide player, has been asked to fill in at times.

Despite making just 18 Premier League appearances in what we, and likely just about everyone else, consider to be probably his most difficult season in English football, the man Solskjaer apparently described as “hugely underrated” would surely almost certainly be coming to seize the starting spot from Matic, whose days at Old Trafford could be numbered as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer prepares a ‘ruthless’ reshaping of the squad.

It seems unlikely that United would stump up whatever price Spurs demand for the midfielder only to have him play second fiddle to Matic, right? Indeed, Dier is currently rated at £36m by Transfermarkt and there were reports from the Telegraph back in 2017 that he'd command a £50m fee, far from an insignificant amount even to a club as rich as United. Yes, his stock may have dropped since then, but can you really see Daniel Levy allowing a big player to go to a domestic rival for much less?

So, that would naturally put Matic in a difficult position. While undoubtedly a monster of a defensive midfielder at his peak, the 2018/19 campaign proved difficult for the Serb (the Independent suggested he was becoming somewhat of a problem in their match report back in March following a loss to Arsenal), with the Manchester Evening News even claiming in late May that the club may reject the chance to extend his contract by another year.

As they say - out with the old, in with the new.

Manchester United fans, would you be happy with signing Dier? Do you think he’s good enough to displace Matic? Let us know in the comments below...