Tottenham Hotspur head coach Ange Postecoglou has reportedly held a frank conversation with Eric Dier over the Englishman's future with the club.
As things stand, Dier is due to leave the North London giants as a free agent at the end of the season, and he has fallen significantly down the pecking order over the past few months.
The former Sporting Lisbon youngster was a stalwart of Antonio Conte's three-man defence, but he missed the end of the 2022-23 season owing to a groin injury and has failed to regain his place in the team.
With Postecoglou preferring Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero to shield Guglielmo Vicario, Dier has only made two appearances all season long, coming off the bench against Chelsea after Romero's sending-off and Van de Ven's injury.
As Spurs' only senior centre-back, Dier was brought in for his first start of the new term against Wolverhampton Wanderers two weeks ago, where he initially held his own alongside Ben Davies in a ravaged backline.
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However, Spurs suffered a calamitous late collapse to lose 2-1, and Dier was subsequently dropped from the first XI for Sunday's 2-1 loss to Aston Villa, where full-backs Dier and Emerson Royal were preferred in the heart of defence.
Losing his spot in the starting lineup to an out-of-position Emerson only intensified the belief that Dier's time at Tottenham is up, and according to the Daily Mail, he has spoken honestly with Postecoglou about his position with the club.
While the nature of the conversation has not been disclosed, Postecoglou is said to have been completely straightforward with the 29-year-old, who appreciated his manager telling it to him straight.
Despite dropping down to the fringes of the Tottenham team, Dier is said to have been a model professional behind the scenes and has not kicked up a fuss, although he allegedly had one "frosty" talk with chairman Daniel Levy in the last knockings of the summer window.
Barring an unforeseen revival, Dier will not be given a contract extension at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and will be free to open talks with foreign clubs in January, when the Lilywhites will have their last chance to recoup a fee for the Englishman.
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The 29-year-old would be within his rights to demand a higher wage as a free agent, though, so he may very well see out his contract with Tottenham before exploring his options over the summer.
A return to Sporting - whom Dier represented between 2003 and 2014 before joining Spurs for €5m (£4.3m) - has been mooted, while Bayern Munich and Celtic have also been credited with an interest.
Since ending his time in the Portuguese top flight, the midfielder-turned-defender has played 362 times for Tottenham in all competitions, scoring 13 goals and registering 12 assists.
Spurs will reportedly not allow Dier to leave in January without signing a replacement, though, having also lost Van de Ven and 18-year-old Ashley Phillips to serious hamstring and ankle injuries respectively.
Everton's Jarrad Branthwaite, America's Sebastian Caceres and Atalanta BC's Giorgio Scalvini are said to be on Spurs' radar, but the club have reportedly cooled their interest in Chelsea's Trevoh Chalobah due to the Englishman's injury problems.
Ben Knapton
