Everton expected to make bid for £40m star who will become 'one of best in Premier League'

Everton are expected to make a fresh bid for Tyler Dibling, reports suggest.

The Toffees have been unsuccessful in their opening offer for the Southampton winger. The Times first reported that Everton lodged a bid of £27 million that has been turned down by the Saints.

However, it is suggested that David Moyes’ side will return with an improved proposal for Dibling, although Southampton are hoping to bank more than £40 million. Everton hope they can land him for around £35 million.

The 18-year-old enjoyed a breakthrough 2024-25 season and was a beacon of light in a bleak Saints season that saw them finish bottom of the Premier League. Dibling recorded four goals and three assists in 38 games.

The England youth international is capable of playing in several positions. Although he chiefly operated out wide, he was also deployed as an attacking midfielder and in a centre-forward role.

Dibling praise

After becoming part of Southampton’s first team, team-mate Yukinari Sugawara backed Dibling to become one of the best players in the Premier League. He told the Southern Daily Echo: “I still can't believe he's still 18 years old, he's a top, top player already.

"He showed some really good stuff in the game and created big chances. He got a penalty and he also defended well. He's a top talent and he will be one of the best players in the Premier League. I really enjoyed the game with him.

"It was really comfortable to play on the right side, he really knows what I want. We had really good communication. It's going to be better I think.

“When I saw his first session, I thought he was not 18. I asked, 'How old are you?' Then he said 18, I said, 'What the... is that?' He's crazy, you know? But for sure he will be one of the best players because of his mentality, everything will be top-level. He's still young, he needs to learn a lot of things but he just needs to focus on the process and what he wants to be."

Everton are in need of signing attacking players, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Jack Harrison and Jesper Lindstrom departing the club at the end of their respective contracts.

The Blues have so far been unsuccessful in their pursuit of a new winger, with Olympique Lyonnais rejecting an offer of £31.5 million for Malick Fofana. They are also interest in taking Jack Grealish on loan from Manchester City.

Moyes on Everton’s transfer plans

Speaking after a 2-1 loss to West Ham in the Premier League Summer Series in the USA, Everton boss Moyes said: "We've got huge priorities as far as where we would like to try and buy the players if we could do," said Moyes. "But also, we've got a numbers situation as well, we're short in numbers, so there's a bit of both. We're trying to get the pieces we really want first, and that's what we've been fighting to do. So hopefully we can, hopefully things will fall into place.

"But we're just beginning to think, my goodness, we're just not getting enough over the line. Because we are actively working to try [and] it's not as if we're a club who are saying [that] we're waiting to sell a player before we can bring one in. But it's not really the situation. We've got money to spend, and we'll have to try and spend it wisely.

"We're desperate to get things moving on. We know that time's running out. We've probably had since the last game of the season, and I don't know what, five weeks, six weeks, certainly, probably more than that. So we've got to start getting moving on, because it won't be long until [it] starts to become a bit close to the end of the window."