Portuguese club Sporting Lisbon have beaten the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal to to the signature of a precocious English talent.
16-year-old Eric Dier has signed professional terms with Sporting and the centre-back has been tipped as a future England international.
Dier has been with the Portuguese club since the age of eight and has played at every level up to the Under-19s.
Paulo Cardoso, who knows a thing or tweo about footballing talent having unearthed Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani, has predicted an illustrious future for the kid.
Dier said: “I feel very fortunate to have such a fantastic opportunity here for me at a massive club like Sporting Lisbon, I’m just going to work hard at my game and look to push on to the First Team squad in the next couple of years.
“My first targets are to cement my place in the U’19 team, and hopefully put myself in consideration for an England junior cap back home.”
Ricardo Cardoso, Edinburgh around 1 year, 10 months ago