Eric Dier has stated that Christian Eriksen does not deserve to be booed by Tottenham fans as speculation about his future continues to dominate the headlines.
Looking on course to leave back in the summer with only one year left on his contract, the 27-year-old still remains in the capital despite talk of a January move to Inter Milan.
Although many fans believe that the club should be starting to plan for life without him given he is free to leave in the summer for absolutely nothing, both Mauricio Pochettino and Jose Mourinho have continued to use him.
The latter has started with Eriksen on the bench in the past two games but he has been brought on to help the team find a goal.
The ex-Ajax man was introduced in the 62nd minute against Norwich on Wednesday evening and a smattering of boos could be heard around the stadium.
Initially questioning that some of the fans had booed the player after coming on, Dier opened up on his time with Eriksen at the club and claimed there is nothing negative to say at all about his teammate.
"Christian did? I didn’t think Christian got booed, to be honest. I was on the pitch and I did not hear anything so it much have been very small amount of fans," said the versatile player.
"Speaking about Christian, there is nothing negative you could say about Christian. I have been here almost as long as he has and he has always handled himself in the best way.
"He has always been one of the most professional players I have known and one of the best players at Tottenham on the most consistent basis.
"When you look, he has probably played the most games in that period. There is nothing negative to say about Christian.
"Whatever he has done, he has done with the best intentions. So he does not deserve that from anyone."
Reports in the media have this week stated that some of the Tottenham team are unhappy with Mourinho's methods on the training pitch.
However, Dier was quick to downplay the speculation.
"Any club, when results aren’t going well, is not a happy atmosphere," he added. "But it definitely isn’t a negative atmosphere.
"I don’t feel anything along those lines personally and I think everybody has been training very well, training hard, enjoying themselves in the same way as always.
"Like I say, when the results aren’t good, nobody is happy. Only in that sense, though – nothing negative."
