Sold for £4m, now worth 395% more: Everton had a howler over "top-class" 28 y/o - opinion

Everton have become renowned for their transfer blunders over the last six years since Farhad Moshiri has taken over the club. However, he wasn’t the first to make mistakes when it comes to letting players walk out of Finch Farm to become superstars elsewhere.

Wayne Rooney is one of the most notable players that got away from Everton in recent history, and his career at Manchester United completely justified his move as a player of his calibre was always going to be hard to tie down for the Toffees.

Though, there is another player who went on to be a success at a ‘big six’ club since leaving Merseyside, and is often a forgotten gem of the past.

Eric Dier, who now plays an important role in the defensive line for Tottenham Hotspur, had an 18-month loan spell with Everton U18s back in 2011 and was handed back to Sporting Lisbon after 18 months to be sold onto Spurs for just £4m two years later in 2014.

Since that moment, he is now worth a whopping 395% more at £19.8m according to Transfermarkt.

A decade after leaving Merseyside, the Spurs centre-back has enjoyed his football at the highest level playing for the England national team as part of the midfield who got to the first international semi-final since 1990 back in 2018, and has since moved into a centre-back role at his current club, Tottenham, where has seen a return of consistent form under Antonio Conte this season.

When you compare the 28-year-old who was hailed “confident” by Gary Neville and “top-class” by coach Harry Brooks, to current Everton central defender Mason Holgate it’s clear Everton have missed out on a gem in Dier.

According to Soccerment, the Spurs defender is more successful in aerial duels (58%), passes (85%), tackles (65%) and dribbles (72%)