Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed Eric Dier has undergone a 'medical procedure' following an issue which arose in their pre-season assessment.
Spurs have also confirmed the midfielder will not travel with the squad on their pre-season tour to Singapore and then Shanghai.
It comes at a terrible time for the Englishman who was looking to earn himself a place in the starting XI following the arrival of Tanguy Ndombele.
Bad timing for the midfielder
Although the procedure will keep him out of their trip to Asia, the Club stated it was successful:
"Eric Dier has undergone a medical procedure to correct an issue detected during medical assessments on the first day of pre-season training.
Following the successful procedure, Eric will now undertake a short period of rehabilitation."
Spurs smashed their transfer record to bring Ndombele to the Club from Lyon in a deal worth around £65m.
After spending such a large sum of money on the Frenchman it has only put Dier further back in the pecking order of the Spurs midfield.
Moussa Sissoko enjoyed a superb season last time around after filling in for Mousa Dembele who struggled last season with injuries before his departure.
Harry Winks has come of age under Mauricio Pochettino and is the likely candidate to start alongside their new record signing so it does beg the question where Dier will fit in.
It is unlikely an England international would be willing to wait in the wings for injuries to his teammates/ the odd cup game in the season leading up to the 2020 Euros.
Exit on the cards?
With the 2020 Euros now just one season away, Dier could look for the exit door in order to gain more first-team action.
Manchester United showed a keen interest in the midfielder last summer but the clubs were unable to agree on a fee.
However, it is believed Spurs are willing to let the 25-year-old leave this summer with more suitable other options available to Pochettino in comparison to last season.