Russell Martin has laughed off claims that talented winger Tyler Dibling can leave Southampton for £21million.
Dibling has been linked with Manchester United and Aston Villa in a transfer worth £21m but this figure falls way below Southampton’s asking price, with the Saints hoping to agree a new contract with the superb teenager.
His performances have been a real bright spot in an otherwise miserable season for the south coast club, who are bottom of the Premier League with five points from 15 matches.
The 18-year-old joined Chelsea from Southampton in the summer of 2022 but returned to St Mary’s months later after struggling in London.
Having caught the eye in the Premier League this season, particularly in a recent draw against Brighton, Dibling could give a big move another try.
Southampton manager Martin is keen to keep the talented forward, however, and with the most cliche response imaginable, he has said Dibling’s left foot might be worth more than the reported asking price.
“I’m not sure you’ll get his left foot for that,” Martin laughed.
The former Norwich defender continued: “We have offered him a contract, a really good contract for someone his age. At the minute, I don’t think his agent agrees, so that’s where we’re at.
“I think Tyler wants it done, I think Tyler’s parents want it done, so we’ll see how long that takes. There is an option. We can extend. I don’t think we want to do that – we want to reward Tyler for his performances.
“I’ve spoken to Tyler’s mum and dad about it, I’ve spoken to Tyler, but then I’m not involved in any of the negotiations – that’s down to Phil [Parsons, chief executive] and the gang, the owners and Tyler’s agent – and that’s where it gets tricky.”
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The Saints host lowly Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday and Martin had some positive team news.
“Jan Bednarek’s back, Paul Onuachu’s back, which is really good, and apart from that we’re all good,” he told a press conference.
“Al McCarthy’s back fit and Rambo’s [Aaron Ramsdale] very close, he may be back for the Liverpool game but if not the Fulham game after that.”
Spurs have only won one of their last eight matches across all competitions and were fortunate to avoid defeat at Rangers in the Europa League on Thursday, with head coach Ange Postecoglou under severe pressure.
As well as doubling down on his criticism “assessment” of Timo Werner, Postecoglou said he and his players are “in a fight”.
“We’re in a fight here, collectively we’re in a fight,” he told reporters. “I’m not going to go around worrying about people’s bruised egos. We want to achieve things, we want to be successful.
“We’re down to the bare bones in players, if there’s somebody in that dressing room who’s fit, able to contribute, and feels like they need something extra in this moment, he’s probably not the right type.
“We had some last night that understand the situation that we’re in. We’ve got 15 fit players, in some positions we’ve only got two players. I’m not going to go around trying to get extra out of people if they don’t give extra right now. That gives me an indication of where they’re at.
“Whether you’ve got a lack of confidence, lack of belief, whatever it is to say well, are you in this fight? Because we are in a fight.
“We’ve got a limited number of players to call on, some big games coming up, we can set up our season, I just need people to have that level of commitment and application and find their way through. As much as I’m talking about Timo, I’m talking about the whole group.
“The norms of football, poor performance you get left out, they don’t exist in our environment right now. I need players going out there and putting that to one side.”