Everton are in talks to sign Southampton winger Tyler Dibling and have had three bids rejected so far.
Everton’s latest bid for Dibling, worth more than £40m, was turned down by the Championship club, who are sticking to their valuation.
Southampton value Dibling at around £50m, so clearly it would require a substantial financial commitment from the board to strike a deal.
Dibling wants to join the Toffees, so if the clubs can find an agreement, the transfer should move pretty quickly.
With that said, if the talented teenager does complete a move to Merseyside, he could end up playing in a position that his former manager Russell Martin earmarked him for.
Southampton winger Tyler Dibling in action vs Everton.
Photo by Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images
Russell Martin believes Everton target will end up playing central midfield or number 10
Former Southampton and now Rangers manager Russell Martin has actually already told David Moyes what position Tyler Dibling should end up playing.
“He’s powerful, he’s really quick, both feet, can shoot,” Martin said on the Rest Is Football podcast back in April.
“I worked with Harry Kane and physically the stuff I’ve seen him do at 18 in the Premier League with people just bouncing off him – he has something I’ve not seen in a British player in a long time.
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“He’ll play as a No.8 or a No.10 eventually, but he’s 18 so we played him out wide and he was incredible.
“He can play wide, we played him as a false nine in pre-season and he was our best player.”
Tyler Dibling expected to play right-wing at Everton
With Jack Harrison and Jesper Lindstrom gone, there is a big void on the right-hand side of Everton’s attack.
Moyes has made it a top priority to sign a right-winger, so evidently, Dibling will be deployed in that role if he joins.
“It’s been a priority all summer, actually. Probably of all the positions, having a right-sided player is probably what we’ve wanted,” the 62-year-old said ahead of the Manchester United game.
“I would’ve liked that first if possible, but we’ve tried for quite a few and not got them over the line yet.”
If the Dibling deal doesn’t get done, Everton could turn their attention to Takefusa Kubo, who they’ve held an interest in all summer.