Bromance back on at Bayern!
Former Tottenham pair Dier and Kane reunited after defender’s transfer
YOU can picture it now: Harry Kane and Eric Dier strolling along Munich’s iconic Maximilianstrasse reminiscing about the good old days.
They may stop for a bratwurst and discuss their mutual love of the NFL, although given their personal allegiances — Kane supports New England Patriots and Dier is a Philadelphia Eagles fan — that may not end well.
The conversation, inevitably, will turn to their shared passion for golf and, over a stein of Paulaner, they’ll reflect on club selection for the tricky par-three 14th at nearby Munchener Golf Club in Strasslach — the 27-hole course Kane has frequented regularly since his £120million move to Bayern Munich and one Dier will get to know well.
They go way back. Title races, Champions League finals, World Cups and European Championships. Each a constant and comforting presence in the other’s life since they played together for England Under 19s in 2012.
A ‘bromance’ that has stood the test of time. In Munich their paths are crossing again: Dier landed in Germany yesterday to complete a shock loan move to Bayern worth up to £2.5m just six months after his close pal Kane arrived.
Their partnership helped propel Spurs during one of their most successful spells in recent memory under Mauricio Pochettino. They would sit next to each other on the plane almost exclusively on European trips and travel to domestic away games side by side. They would be inseparable in the canteen at Spurs’ Enfield HQ.
Similarly, up until 2022, Kane and Dier were always among a small group of early risers on senior England duty and would sit together at breakfast. Both were part of the ‘Werewolf’ card group in Qatar in 2022.
In the early days of Pochettino’s reign, Dele Alli and Ryan Mason formed part of a closeknit group that was central to Tottenham’s emergence as a Premier League force.
Indeed, speak to those at Tottenham and England and they’ll describe the connection between Dier and Alli as the strongest. But as Alli, who left Tottenham in 2022, and Mason, who signed for Hull in 2016, departed — Kane and Dier grew closer. They played golf together at Wentworth. Their families went on holiday together. Matt Doherty, who joined from Wolves in 2020, became a good friend of both, and the trio once filmed a hilarious pizza review for Barstool Sports that has over 300,000 views on YouTube.
But jokes, golf, NFL and pizza aside, the Kane/Dier axis helped drive standards at Tottenham — and for a period, England — for the best part of a decade.
Dier scored on his debut for Spurs in a 1-0 win over West Ham in August 2014. Kane was introduced as a late substitute that day. By the end of that season Kane had scored 32 goals for club and country and Dier was an ever-present for Pochettino. Twelve months later they were starting for England at Euro 2016, although that was an experience they’d rather forget.
Their journeys to the top are intertwined. It was always natural that Kane and Dier would gravitate to each other. Both are smart, respectful and mature, and understand the power of forming strong relationships.
Dier, in particular, is known to have gone out of his way to ensure those around him are comfortable in his company.
That roundedness is perhaps why, alongside Kane and Hugo Lloris, Dier became such an influential and vocal figure at Tottenham after arriving from Sporting Lisbon. One minute you’d see him conversing and sipping mate tea with Tottenham’s South American contingent, the next he’d be hanging out with Alli and Kane.
Not long after Ange Postecoglou’s arrival last summer, the Australian manager disbanded the leadership group that included Lloris, Kane and Dier. But even then the 29-year-old, despite his increasingly peripheral role, continued to use his bilingual abilities to ensure new faces settled.
‘Dier knows how to converse with footballers because he is one,’ said a source. ‘There’s a close bond there with Harry and Eric. They are both very intelligent guys.’ And in Bavaria they have found each other again. The bromance lives on.