Everton weigh up second bid for Tyler Dibling with club intent on busy August in transfer window

Everton weigh up second bid for Tyler Dibling with club intent on busy August in transfer window

The Blues have shifted attention to the Southampton starlet as they seek options for the right of midfield

Tyler Dibling during the pre-season friendly match between Eastleigh and Southampton. The Saints player is a summer target for Everton. Photo by Robin Jones/Getty Images

Everton are weighing up an improved bid for Tyler Dibling after Southampton rejected an opening offer for the England youth international.

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The youngster has been on the club’s radar for some time but focus has now shifted to his potential to galvanise the Blues’ summer rebuild after setbacks elsewhere in the search to improve the right side of midfield. An initial offer in the region of £27m was turned down by the Saints but there is a belief it is a transfer worth pursuing, with Dibling reportedly open to a move to Merseyside.

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That is in contrast to other wingers that have been the subject of serious interest to date, with Moyes’ ambition to bring in quality having been undermined by Everton being unable to offer European football this season.

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Everton have been busy in the market so far, committing combined fees in excess of £50m to make Carlos Alcaraz’s loan move from Flamengo permanent, to sign promising forward Thierno Barry from Villarreal and acquire teenage Morocco international Adam Aznou from Bayern Munich . Mark Travers has also been signed from Bournemouth to act as Jordan Pickford’s understudy.

While those deals have added competition and cover that was deemed essential after an exodus of senior players, there is a sense Everton’s squad is currently weaker than the one that ended last season with three consecutive wins.

The permanent addition of attacking midfielder Alcaraz, who was the difference in two of those concluding victories , was an important early summer deal while France U21s international Barry and former Barcelona academy talent Aznou hold the potential to transform Everton over the coming seasons.

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But the summer departures saw exits for seasoned Premier League players including Abdoulaye Doucoure, Ashley Young, Asmir Begovic and Dominic Calvert-Lewin. While moving on from those players may have been a necessary part of the rebuild Moyes is attempting to undertake - with wages, fitness and age among the concerns that prevented new deals being sought - Everton have struggled to replace them with players with either the experience or proven talent to make a difference to the first team.

The club came close to an agreement with Kenny Tete, who would have become the starting right back, only for him to reach new terms with Fulham after the Blues’ approach spurred the club into stepping up efforts to convince him to stay at Craven Cottage.

Alongside right back and central midfield, a priority area for improvement is the right wing . Everton relied on loanees Jack Harrison and Jesper Lindstrom to fill that position last season and, while they were underwhelming for large swathes of the campaign, they provided Sean Dyche then Moyes with seasoned options who knew the position and whose workrate could be trusted. Everton turned down the option to acquire Lindstrom on a permanent deal and the Napoli player has since joined Wolfsburg on loan. Harrison has been re-integrated to the Leeds United squad for the club’s early pre-season games.

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Everton’s first choice target this summer was Francisco Conceicao, who instead turned his loan spell at Juventus into a permanent move from Porto. Others of interest have included Johan Bakayoko, who has signed for RB Leipzig from PSV Eindhoven and Takefusa Kubo - though his club Real Sociedad is keen to hold firm on a valuation of him that Everton are reluctant to consider and so interest in the Japan international has cooled.

More recently, Everton have been in talks with Lyon over Malick Fofana and, while the French club is open to a sale given their off-the-pitch issues, the player would prefer a move that would provide him with Champions League football.

That has been a theme of the transfer business so far, one that Moyes has openly addressed while expressing frustration with the amount of signings to date. He said last week: “The club are trying really hard to get the players I want and I’ve found it really difficult because in my last few years (at West Ham United), I’ve been involved in European competition. It’s a bit easier when you’re a club in Europe. You get a better chance of attracting a lot of players. We’ve been in for a lot of really good players. Unfortunately, a lot them have said no at the moment.”

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The club has emerged from several years of relegation fights and financial crises into a new era of stability and ambition that will be kickstarted by the move into the Hill Dickinson Stadium later this month. But while it is on the precipice of a real change in fortunes, there has been difficulty in getting players with alternative options to buy into the project.

That has not been the case with upcoming starlets such as Barry and Aznou, or with Alcaraz - who had a front seat view of the change in atmosphere and expectation at the club in the second half of last season.

With that in mind, attention has moved to Dibling . A player valued as a £100m prospect as he impressed in the Premier League last season, it would have been unthinkable that he could have been in Everton’s orbit at the turn of the year.

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But a combination of factors has given the Blues hope he would view the club as a step forward in his career and that Southampton would be willing to listen to more reasonable offers.

While the 19-year-old has been monitored by several Premier League outfits this summer, many of the clubs searching for options in his favoured position on the right have looked elsewhere. Tottenham Hotspur signed Mohammed Kudus from West Ham. Newcastle United turned to Anthony Elanga from Nottingham Forest who, in turn, have agreed a deal for Bologna’s Dan Ndoye as his replacement.

With none of those players - all of whom have far more experience than Dibling - having moved for fees in excess of £55m, Southampton would find it difficult to maintain a valuation that would be out of Everton’s reach in a summer in which the club’s issue is no longer having money to spend, but how and where to spend it .

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Meanwhile, the Saints’ relegation to the Championship means Dibling is more open to becoming a statement signing for a club on the up such as Everton, where he knows he is likely to become an important first team player should a deal be agreed.

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At Everton, scarred by a poor start to pre-season in which the lack of depth in the squad has been repeatedly exposed, it is believed a move for Dibling would not represent a shift in ambition. The club, while understanding work is imperative if a golden chance to start life in the new stadium on a positive trajectory is not to be wasted, remains intent on acquiring players who will strengthen Moyes’ hand rather than fill squad places for the sake of it. As well as right wing, central midfield is considered a key area to improve.

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There is an awareness other Premier League clubs in a similar position are coming up against the same hurdles in the transfer market but key figures at Finch Farm believe August will yield genuine progress and that, while that will include permanent signings, the loan market is yet to have gathered traction - something that will be key over the coming weeks, particularly as clubs with bigger squads such as Manchester City and Chelsea move to an acceptance they will be unable to sell some players on the periphery of their plans.

At City, Everton are one of a number of clubs that have been following the availability of James McAtee while links to Jack Grealish have persisted through the summer. Moyes is willing to countenance a marquee loan deal but City are expected to explore efforts to recoup a significant fee for a player they signed for £100m. His preferred position is also one of few areas Everton have genuine depth.

At Chelsea, Moyes is an admirer of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who was the subject of interest from Everton in January. The midfielder has since become more prominent at Stamford Bridge and was involved in the Club World Cup final win over Paris Saint Germain, however. Speculation over a loan move for Juventus’ Douglas Luiz has continued in Italy. Club insiders continue to express surprise at the intensity of those reports but, as the new season approaches, the remaining weeks of the transfer window could take Everton down pathways in the transfer market they did not anticipate at the beginning of the summer.

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