Everton handed Tyler Dibling verdict amid £50m transfer standoff - 'Most talented player I've seen'

Everton handed Tyler Dibling verdict amid £50m transfer standoff - 'Most talented player I've seen'

Everton target Tyler Dibling has been hailed as being the best player he's ever worked with by former Southampton manager Russell Martin

Tyler Dibling of Southampton (Image: Robin Jones/Getty Images)

Former Southampton manage Russell Martin has proclaimed that Everton target Tyler Dibling is the best player he’s ever worked with and “he has something I’ve not seen in a British player in a long time.”

‌

The Saints, who are preparing for their first game back in the Championship against newly promoted Wrexham on Saturday, have withdrawn Diblin from full contact training amid talks over a potential move to the Blues. The 19-year-old has been the subject of three offers this summer from Everton, with their most recent bid being £40million plus £5million in add ons, a similar figure to their record signing Gylfi Sigurdsson in 2017.

‌

Although Dibling is believed to have told Southampton he wants to leave, the ECHO understands he has not submitted a formal transfer request and St Mary’s chiefs won’t budge over their asking price. Speaking to Gary Lineker on his The Rest Is Football podcast back in April, former Southampton manager Russell Martin – now in charge at Rangers, alongside former Everton director of football Kevin Thelwell – reckoned that Dibling would be “worth every penny” for any potential suitors this summer though.

‌

Beginning the segment with a reference to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who Leicester-born Lineker lamented the Foxes had to sell after winning promotion to the Premier League last summer, Martin said of the midfielder who joined Everton from Chelsea on Wednesday: “He was brilliant, he was the best player in the Championship last season.”

Talk soon turns to Dibling though and Martin said: “It’s so hard because when I was there, I had to balance everything and try and play it down a lot. I don’t want to make things more difficult for him, but he is the most talented player I’ve ever seen, that I’ve worked with.

“That I’ve seen live, that I’ve seen on the training pitch. So, I worked with James Maddison at that age at Norwich, he was outstanding.

Article continues below

“Tyler has every capability to go and play for England and at the top level for a very long time because he’s powerful, he’s really quick, can shoot with both feet – bang, bang. I worked with Harry Kane when he was 21 at Norwich on loan as well.

“Physically, the stuff I’ve seen him do at 18 in the Premier League with people just bouncing off him, and put on the floor when he dribbles with the ball. He has something I’ve not seen with a British player in a long time.

“To play in the middle of the park, to be able to take the ball, swivel and go. He’ll play as a number eight or a 10 eventually, but he’s 18 so we played him out wide, he’s incredible.

‌

“He can play wide, we played him as a false nine in pre-season, he was our best player. It was my fault for not playing him in the first few games in the Premier League because he needs a bit more time, but he should have played (based) on his pre-season form.

“He’s an amazing young man but he needs the right style of play and the right environment to really thrive I think.”

With Southampton returning to the Championship after just one season back in the Premier League, Lineker predicts that Dibling will attract transfer attention this window and states: “I suspect someone will grab him over the summer.” Martin replied: “I don’t think he’ll be cheap, but I think he’ll be worth every penny. When I went into the club, everyone told me: ‘He’s the one to look for.’

‌

“When we were getting promoted from the Championship, it wasn’t about talent, we needed to get promoted and we needed a group of men, more experienced players who were ready. So, we played Tyler in a couple of cup games and in one of them he was brilliant and in the next one not so great.

“He’s young of course, but it was about the demands of what’s expected. So, if you’re going to play for this team, you need to run... all the time.

“All you do with the ball is amazing, but you need to be able to do the other side as well. By the end, by the time we’d left, his best trait right now is he is care-free.

‌

“So, before the game, his debut against Manchester United, I said: ‘Are you feeling alright?’ He was on his phone, top off, he’s a machine and he wears his socks really low.

“I said: ‘Are you alright?’ He said: ‘Yeah, I’m great.’

“He was on his phone until the very last second until they walk out. If he can keep that, and someone can harness him in terms of where he goes next and which position he’s going to play, and the expectation on him, honestly, he’s an incredible talent.”

‌

Martin, who has also had spells in charge of Milton Keynes Dons and Swansea City, revealed that he still kept in contact with former colleagues in Hampshire after his sacking last December and hopes that Dibling gets the correct guidance for his career going forwards. He said: “I speak to Adam Lallana, and he’s played with some really top young players, and he’s like: ‘Tyler, phhh.’ He can just do things out of nowhere and people are like: ‘wow.’

“They’re wow moments. He gets bums off seats every time he got the ball for Saints.

“For an 18-year-old kid, even in a game where we’re struggling, you can feel the excitement and the anticipation. I don’t think there are many players who are capable of doing that.

Article continues below

“I hope that doesn’t get taken out of him. I also hope that, whether it’s at Southampton, with the right coach, or if he moves, he ends up with the right person to really understand him and allow him to be himself as he’s just a lovely boy.”

Click here to read article