A youngster who could turn out to be the most exciting new prospect to appear for Everton in many a long year, Tyler Dibling has finally completed his long rumoured move from Southampton.
The 19-year-old right-winger has signed a 4-year contract after a complex transfer deal was finally agreed for a sum reported by The Athletic to be an initial £35M with potential add-ons that could increase that by up to £5M, plus a sell-on clause described as being ‘not as high’ as 20%.
Dibling becomes Everton’s eighth signing of this transfer window, which started slowly with the permanent deal for Charly Alcaraz, and reached a climax last week when Jack Grealish joined, initially on loan.
Everton have had three previous bids rejected by Southampton for their teenage winger, who is one of the most highly rated attacking prospects in England. Dibling came through Southampton’s academy and had a brief spell in Chelsea’s youth academy in 2022 before returning to the south coast later that year. He made his debut in a 3-1 Carabao Cup defeat against Gillingham in August 2023 and has featured 43 times for Southampton in total.
After the rumours of Everton’s interest started, there were mixed signals when the player was training alone and not featuring in The Saints’ early games in this season’s Championship when he was left out of Will Still’s squad for Southampton’s first two matches, but he played the final few minutes in the 1-1 draw with Ipswich Town but was absent again for Saturday’s defeat at Stoke City.
However, it seemed to be only a matter of time before someone would agree a deal to take him back into the Premier League, where he made 33 appearances last season, scoring two goals, and making a strong impression despite the Saints’ relegation from the top flight. Crystal Palace were thought to be interested too.
The Blues had backed off after failing to reach an agreement on the valuation of the player and the details of the deal being struck between the two clubs earlier this month. However, it appears that negotiations were resumed and an agreement was finally secured between the two clubs.
Dibling may well be expecting to slot straight into David Moyes’s starting XI, given that the squad does not have a right winger at the moment. Charly Alcaraz, Dwight McNeil and Iliman Ndiaye have deputised in that role with little to no success following the departures of loanees Jack Harrison and Jesper Lindström at the end of last season.
However, it seems unlikely that David Moyes will select him to play against Mansfield Town on Wednesday, so soon after joining the squad.