Everton’s hope of signing Tyler Dibling from Southampton took a major boost on Wednesday.
This comes just hours after Everton secured the signing of Jack Grealish for the season on loan from Manchester City.
David Moyes will be excited by the prospect of having some improved attacking options at his disposal ahead of Monday night’s opener.
Those options could take another boost, with Everton keen to sign Dibling from Southampton.
It looks unlikely the 19-year-old could be signed in time for the trip to Elland Road on Monday night, but the prospect of a deal being done has been revived.
Former Tottenham Hotspur defender Michael Dawson has even jumped to Everton’s defence with a clear message to the Championship outfit.
Southampton request £95m combined for Mateus Fernandes and Tyler Dibling amid Everton transfer saga
It has now been suggested that Southampton have issued a Dibling counter-offer to Everton after rejecting their latest bid last week.
The Saints have Premier League clubs circling over their top players, but they have extremely high demands for those in-demand players.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Dawson has hit back at Southampton and their manager, Will Still, over the £50m asking price that had been set on Dibling.
“I think Will Still needs to learn that the transfer window ends on 1 September,” said Dawson.
“You look at Mateus Fernandes and Tyler Dibling. You’re talking about a £35m bid [for Fernandes] and Southampton want £50m. I’m not sure how easy Southampton are to deal with, but they want £45m for Dibling and £50m for Fernandes?
“Wow! They got 12 points last year. They need a big improvement from Will Still and he’s going to have to deal with the pressure of that.”
Southampton omitted Dibling from their squad at the weekend, with the player’s mind believed to be elsewhere amid the transfer speculation.
After showing their interest, it is claimed Dibling is keen to join Everton before the transfer deadline at the start of September.
Everton handed real Tyler Dibling opportunity
After signing Grealish on a season-long loan deal, Everton have a real opportunity to push on this summer with an opportunity like Dibling.
Paul Scholes has urged Everton to sign Dibling, after being left so impressed with the 19-year-old during his opening campaign in the Premier League.
Following Southampton’s dreadful 2024/25 campaign, Dibling now wants to return to the top flight, and he has the opportunity to potentially join the likes of Grealish and Iliman Ndiaye on Merseyside.
Moyes has been keen to sign a new winger since January, and the possible addition of Dibling would really cap off an impressive few weeks in the market.
There is no doubt that Dibling is not the finished article, but the youngster has shown bags of potential that he could unleash at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
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