After a short loan back to Ipswich in March 2011, he signed for newly promoted club Queens Park Rangers ahead of their 2011–12 Premier League season.

[4][5] He had spent three years at Portman Road when he requested a transfer in order to further his international prospects following Ipswich's failure to gain promotion to the Premier League through the play-offs in 1999.

[9] Dyer opened his Newcastle goalscoring account at home to local rivals Sunderland, but the match ended in a 2–1 defeat, which saw Gullit resign shortly afterwards.

[9][10] Under Gullit's replacement, Bobby Robson, Dyer was a key player in the Newcastle team which finished fourth, third and fifth in the 2001–02, 2002–03 and 2003–04 Premier League seasons respectively.

[11] This resulted in Dyer and Bowyer receiving red cards, leaving Newcastle with eight men as Steven Taylor had already been sent-off for a deliberate handball.

[15][16] This followed a close-season in which Newcastle manager Graeme Souness signed a number of other midfield players, including Emre Belözoğlu, Scott Parker, Albert Luque and Nolberto Solano.

[18] Dyer marked his first start of the season since the opening day against Arsenal with a goal in a FA Cup fifth round match against Southampton on 18 February 2006.

He continued his rich vein of form, also scoring against Tottenham Hotspur,[21] Bolton Wanderers,[22] Birmingham City,[23] Aston Villa,[24] AZ[25] and Watford.

[30] Just ten days after his debut, he was stretchered off after a tackle by Joe Jacobson in a League Cup match against Bristol Rovers that resulted in his right leg being broken in two places.

[33] On 3 January 2009, Dyer made his comeback for West Ham after 17 months out, coming on as a second-half substitute against Barnsley in the FA Cup third round tie at the Boleyn Ground.

[30] In May 2010, figures in The Daily Telegraph stated that Dyer, who had made only 22 appearances and had never played a full 90 minutes for West Ham, was the club's top earner on £83,000-a-week.

There was speculation in the local press at the time that he would soon rejoin for Ipswich, however he was not offered a contract and subsequently retired from playing – but remained at the club as an academy coach.

[60] England qualified for the Euro 2000 competition but Dyer was not selected for the squad for the tournament,[61] though he had recovered from injury and taken part in pre-tournament friendlies against Argentina[62] and Ukraine.

[63] Along with a number of other young players who failed to make the squad – including Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Michael Duberry, Jody Morris and Jonathan Woodgate – Dyer took a drunken holiday to the Cypriot resort of Ayia Napa.

[66] Dyer returned to the England squad for the first game after Euro 2000 for the first qualifier for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, against Germany, the last football match at the original Wembley Stadium.

[68] Two days after the squad was announced, Dyer suffered knee ligament damage after being tackled by Tahar El Khalej in a league game against Southampton.

[75][80] His most recent, and subsequently final, appearance for England came in a 2–1 friendly defeat to Germany in August 2007, Dyer replacing Alan Smith in the second half.

[75][81] Following his retirement from playing, Dyer took up a role as an academy coach at his first club Ipswich Town in 2014, becoming assistant manager of the under-18 youth team in August 2018.

[83] Dyer also became more actively involved in first-team affairs following the appointment of new manager Paul Cook in March 2021, often assisting with coaching and being present in the dugout.

[91] On 31 October, following a series of tests in hospital, Ipswich Town confirmed that he had been diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis and would undergo a liver transplant.

[93] On 20 November 2024, Dyer received an apology in the high court after settling a phone-hacking case against the Daily Mirror in return for a financial payout.