Bayern Munich have reportedly triggered their option to complete the permanent signing of Tottenham Hotspur defender Eric Dier.
Although Dier had a year left on his contract in the summer, Spurs failed to attract a suitable bid to part ways with the long-serving Englishman.
Instead, the 30-year-old was restricted to 198 minutes of football in the Premier League during the first half of 2023-24, making just the one start.
However, Bayern came calling in January to add the versatile England international to their ranks, strengthening their options in defence and midfielder with the loan acquisition.
While Spurs would have preferred a permanent sale at that time, they successfully negotiated a substantial loan fee with their Bundesliga counterparts.
© Reuters
According to the Evening Standard, Bayern committed to paying a £3.4m loan fee in the knowledge that they would likely be able to sign Dier permanently given the conditions of his loan proposal.
Furthermore, it is now alleged that Dier making a total of six appearances for Bayern in Germany's top flight has led to a deal being triggered, a contract being penned until 2025.
Dier has been provided with four starts and two substitute outings, Bayern having prevailed in four games and suffered two defeats in fixtures that have featured the former Sporting Lisbon man.
Most recently, Dier featured in a back four as Bayern recorded a morale-boosting 2-1 victory over RB Leipzig, a crucial win after previous losses to Bayer Leverkusen and VfL Bochum.
© Reuters
Dier remained as an unused substitute for the 1-0 defeat to Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico in the last 16 of the Champions League, but he has put himself into contention for an appearance in the second leg.
That may be dependent on whether is able to keep his spot for the meeting with Freiburg on Friday with Kim Min-Jae pushing for a recall.
With regards to Spurs, Dier officially leaves having made a total of 365 appearances in all competitions since his arrival in 2014.
In all but one of his nine completed campaigns, he made at least 30 outings, with 42 appearances coming in 2022-23 before he fell down the pecking order under Ange Postecoglou.