The defeat last weekend to Wolverhampton Wanderers has served as a reminder to both Tottenham Hotspur and head coach Ange Postecoglou that the squad is not deep enough to compete for the Premier League title.
Spurs have now lost the likes of Micky van de Ven, Richarlison, Yves Bissouma and James Maddison through injury as a make-shift backline took to the field at Molineux. Ange is now seeing the true strengths and weaknesses of fringe players and certainly will not have been impressed.
One man, in particular, was handed his first league start of the season during the 2-1 loss but could be on his way out of the club in the near future.
Eric Dier to Bayern Munich links
Eric Dier's contract is set to expire at the end of the season, casting a shadow of uncertainty on his future at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The England international is coming up to his tenth anniversary with the London club, having moved to Spurs in 2014 for £4m during Mauricio Pochettino's first summer transfer window.
The Portuguese-speaking Englishman has been a loyal servant to the Lilywhites, having survived the reins of Poch, Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte, playing a key role under each manager. At one point, Spurs were looking for £50m for Dier when Manchester United came calling back in 2017, although a deal never came to fruition.
Nevertheless, Dier's time at Spurs and English football could be coming to an end over the next few weeks as German champions Bayern Munich are set to make a move for the versatile defender, according to Football Insider.
This would be the Bundesliga giants' second swoop of Tottenham's squad this season, having acquired the club's record goalscorer Harry Kane for £100m during the summer.
The outlet is claiming that Spurs have not entered contract talks with Dier, so the defender looks likely to leave either in January or at the end of the season for nothing.
Eric Dier's stats at Tottenham
Dier has offered all his managers positional versatility, given he is capable of playing as a centre-back in a back three or four, while also proving to be adept in the middle of the park and even at fullback.
Quite often, under Pochettino, the former Sporting CP man would play as Tottenham's deepest-lying midfielder, tasked with dropping in between the two centre-backs when his side were in possession to create a three-man defensive line. In fact, the now-Chelsea manager admitted to signing Dier because of his ability to play in a number of different positions.
Even under Conte, Dier constantly stepped into midfield when Spurs were pressing high up the pitch as Spurs' shape would change from a 5-4-1 to a 4-3-3, which worked wonders in a memorable 1-0 win over Manchester City back in February.
Postecoglou recently admitted that Dier is still an "important" member of Spurs' squad, especially since the injury to Van de Ven which could mean that he starts to earn more and more game-time in the run-up to Christmas.
Statistically, Dier ranks quite well compared to the rest of Europe's top five leagues, sitting in the top 12% for aerial duels won per 90 and the top 16% for blocks per 90, according to FBref.
Additionally, the FBref player comparison model has concluded that Dier is most similar to former Manchester United defender Chris Smalling as the pair's defensive qualities stand out, whereas they struggle in possession.
While Dier is struggling for minutes at Spurs, the club would be making a mistake letting him go. Indeed, they must still look to keep hold of him for the foreseeable future as there are very few centre-backs who can offer the versatility that he can, which is particularly useful when a squad is plagued with injuries.