David Pleat attacks Manchester United pursuit of Tottenham midfielder Eric Dier

Tottenham Hotspur have been urged to defy Manchester United's attempts to sign Eric Dier as the club prepare a second offer for the England international. Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has already turned down an initial offer for the 23-year-old but Jose Mourinho has urged the club's hierarchy to make a second bid for his number one midfielder transfer target.

The Mirror understand executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has not travelled to the United States for the club's pre-season tour and has remained in the United Kingdom in an attempt to thrash out deals for both Dier and Inter Milan's Ivan Perisic. Meanwhile, The Guardian claim the former Sporting Lisbon star is open to moving to the 20-time English league champions to enhance both his pay packet and hopes of playing regularly in a holding midfield role.

Should Dier indeed move to United this summer, a deal which would require a bid matching Levy's £50m valuation of the player, he would join the likes of Teddy Sheringham, Michael Carrick and Dimitar Berbatov in swapping north London for the north west giants. And former Tottenham manager David Pleat is fuming over the prospect of Dier leaving last season's Premier League runners-up.

"You can forget about that," Pleat told BBC Radio Five Live upon being asked about United's interest in Dier. "Let me tell you one thing about Tottenham: they played as attractive football as anyone last season, conceding less goals and scoring more goals. To beat second is going to take a massive, massive effort but the team as a group is playing well together. The hardest thing when a team is playing well is to get top players to sit on the bench.

"Eric can play as a third centre back in a back three, as a right-sided centre-back. He can play right back and play holding midfield with Wanyama who played so well last season. You wouldn't want to take a player who can play three positions and give to a rival. Tottenham have already given Carrick, Berbatov. Who do else do they want? They wanted Bale too."

United's offer to double Dier's £70,000-a-week wages could be a key detail in Tottenham's attempts to retain the former Everton loanee. The club have a strict £100,000 salary cap and Levy is unwilling to break that structure even in exceptional cases to prevent other players making astronomical demands. Mauricio Pochettino's side would be unable to match United's offer but with Dier having signed a new contract until 2021 only last September the club are prepared to be stubborn.