Expert: Tottenham have unexpected Champions League weapon amid training ground reveal
Tottenham have an unexpected Champions League weapon in the shape of Eric Dier.
That is according to Spurs insider John Wenham, who regularly breaks news about the club on his Lilywhite Rose social media channels.
Tottenham will face Marseille, Sporting Lisbon and Frankfurt in the group stage.
Dier, 28, spent nine years in Sporting’s academy and made 31 appearances for the senior side before moving to Spurs in the summer of 2014.
Wenham insists his experience with the Portuguese club can only help Spurs.
“It’s interesting, just this summer gone, Dier spent some time over there training and met Sporting’s youth and academy players,” Wenham told Football Insider correspondent Ben Wild.
“He is very much involved with Sporting Lisbon in a major was, almost like a semi-ambassador. So he went over this summer and did some training and was close to the rest of the team, keeping fit or whatever.
“He knows what they are all about so that can only help us.
“Then he has done some talks with the younger players there because he speaks fluent Portuguese. The other angle is Marcus Edwards may play against Tottenham over the two games.
“He is a player who I was very fond of as he was coming through our academy. He moved to Vitoria, scored against Arsenal at The Emirates and joined Sporting in the summer so I am looking forward to seeing him again.”
Tottenham first face Sporting in Portugal on 13 September.
Their first Champions League game of the season comes next week (7 September) against Marseille at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
In other news, a Tottenham idol is ‘surprised’ by Son Heung-min after Antonio Conte admission.