As a Southampton fan who's watched Tyler Dibling's career so far closely, there's already a blueprint for David Moyes to follow to get the very best out of him at Everton
Dan Burnham is a Senior Sports Reporter and Content Editor for Reach plc's Content Hub. Dan covers news and features from across the sporting world for our national and regional titles. He joined the company in 2021, initially on a freelance basis before going full-time on the Daily Star.
Tyler Dibling of Everton warms up prior to the Carabao Cup Second Round match between Everton and Mansfield Town at Hill Dickinson Stadium on August 27, 2025
With the right support, Tyler Dibling can go right to the very top(Image: Getty Images)
Everton fans are already starting to realise they’ve bought a special player in Tyler Dibling. While it took a few weeks to hash out negotiations with Southampton, there’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll make a mockery of his £40million price tag in next to no time.
Dibling is everything you want in a footballer. Keen to get on the ball (which he then rarely loses), progressive, and will make you get on your feet at least three times a game, and that’s being conservative.
Much like Jack Grealish, who appropriately is very much the original to Dibling’s Football Manager regen, the Toffees have got a player on their hands who has the quality to play right at the very top. But potential being realised is far from a given in this game, and that’s why David Moyes has got a crucial role to play in his career.
The 19-year-old has shown in the past that he’s an arm-around-the-shoulder personality. He left boyhood Southampton for Chelsea aged 16, only to return just three months later reportedly feeling homesick after experiencing the cutthroat nature of the Cobham academy.
He continued to flourish back on the south coast and was given his senior break by Russell Martin, a manager who prides himself on his relationship with his players.
Martin, who spoke effusively about Dibling on a subsequent podcast appearance following his Saints sacking, was almost like a footballing father figure for him. And now he’s moved onto a different family, Moyes must now take on the same role.
Russell Martin, Manager of Southampton speaks with Tyler Dibling on the touchline during the Premier League match between Southampton FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC at St Mary's Stadium on December 15, 2024
Dibling needs a supportive shoulder to lean on like Russell Martin offered him
Martin was replaced at St Mary’s by Ivan Juric, the hard-nut Croatian brought in to apply a far more disciplined approach to the struggling Saints. Their 12 points last season says it all about how that went, with his methods not resonating with the squad - none more so than Dibling.
After a stunning breakthrough in the first few months of the campaign, he then looked a shell of that player for the rest of it. Distracted amid reported interest from the likes of Manchester United? Maybe so. But you’d like to think he’d have wanted to put himself in the shop window once more ahead of the summer.
That’s all in the past now, but it’s Moyes’ hands in which Dibling’s career now rests. As a Southampton fan, I’m preaching to the choir telling Everton supporters that he’s pretty much the ideal fit for nurturing a young talent.
Dibling even said it himself upon his unveiling. “I think the manager is perfect for me," he told the club. "Obviously he's helped so many players before who were in my position. I've spoken to him and I know he's going to be good for me."
In Grealish he has a mentor and in Moyes he has a master. But that arm will need to stay firmly around the shoulder to get the best out of the student.