Tottenham Hotspur's Eric Dier has revealed in The Players' Tribune that ex-Manchester United trio Roy Keane, Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand were among his idols as a child.
Dier, who is with the England squad in Dortmund ahead of Wednesday's friendly against Germany, was raised in Portugal and is comfortable playing in both defence and midfield.
He says he enjoyed watching midfielder Keane and centre-backs Vidic and Ferdinand, as well as Barcelona defensive pair Gerard Pique and Rafael Marquez, the latter of whom is similarly versatile and now plays for Atlas.
"I watched a lot more English than Portuguese football," Dier wrote.