Less than a year after Everton splashed out £35 million to prise Tyler Dibling from Southampton, making him their most expensive signing of last summer's transfer window, the 20-year-old winger is being linked with a potential move away from Hill Dickinson Stadium. A report in the Daily Mail claims RB Leipzig are interested in taking the youngster.
So, should the Blues cash in on a big-money signing who has so far flattered to deceive, or should they show more patience? Members of the ECHO sportsdesk have had their say.
Christopher Beesley's View: Time Not on His Side
It would be a great shame if Tyler Dibling's move to Everton ultimately doesn't work out, but even though he's still another seven months shy of his 21st birthday, time is not exactly on his side. Blues boss David Moyes has gone on record as saying he didn't think it was a particularly big fee – perhaps to protect the player – and when you see a Tottenham Hotspur side that has finished 17th for the past two seasons shelling out £237 million already this window, it looks like relative short change.
However, when Everton pay £35 million for a player, and it's the biggest outlay of that window, you expect much more bang for your buck. In one sense, Hill Dickinson Stadium chiefs did well to drive down the price with Southampton asking for £50 million plus a hefty chunk of any future transfer fee just a few weeks earlier, but make no bones about it, everyone was expecting a much greater impact from Dibling than what we've seen so far.
Because of the way that last season finished, a lot of people among the Blues fanbase seem to have something of a downer on Moyes and will try to rewrite history to suit their own narratives and agendas. They say that he doesn't give young players a chance. This correspondent got it in the neck from them when pointing out that a 16-year-old Wayne Rooney came through under the Glaswegian gaffer's watch. Such a fact was countered with claims that Rooney – arguably the most gifted home-grown hero Everton have ever produced – was always going to shine regardless.
But what about the likes of Leon Osman, who went on to play as many games for the Blues as Dixie Dean; Tony Hibbert; Ross Barkley; Victor Anichebe or James Vaughan, who until March this year was still the youngest goalscorer in Premier League history over two decades on? Between them, they blow that theory spectacularly out of the water.
As much as we all want them to succeed, it seems more likely that Dibling, and Adam Aznou, another one whose stock has risen in the eyes of some merely by not playing, have not been getting game time because they've not been good enough. While Aznou's sum contribution to first-team action during his maiden campaign on Merseyside was an FA Cup third-round cameo off the bench against Sunderland when he won a penalty, albeit one that for once looked rather fortuitous for Everton, Dibling was given several opportunities but when they came his way, he didn't take them.
While I was fortunate enough to witness his encouraging post-Christmas displays at Burnley and Nottingham Forest, other than Elijah Campbell and Reece Welch, a couple of other squad members whose only outings came as substitutes against the Black Cats, Dibling had the lowest average score for the season in the ECHO player ratings at 5.56.
He showed very little on his first start when the Blues were dumped out of the Carabao Cup by Wolverhampton Wanderers' second string at Molineux, being taken off after less than an hour and then got hooked twice at half-time in Premier League home games against Crystal Palace and Brentford. Arriving on loan from Chelsea on deadline day of the winter window following Jack Grealish's season-ending injury, Tyrique George, who is less than a fortnight older than Dibling, immediately moved ahead of him in the pecking order.
Asked how he'd feel about the signing if he was Dibling, Moyes said he'd feel that he needed to "pull his finger out". Since then, the player has featured for just a single minute at the end of the 2-0 home win over Burnley on March 3.
Arriving late in the window after a disjointed summer cannot have helped Dibling so hopefully he can become one of the big beneficiaries of a full pre-season working under Moyes and his staff ahead of the 2026/27 campaign. Given the hyperbole from people who knew him from St Mary's, he seems to have more than enough talent to turn around his fortunes.
However, if he doesn't then he's on course to become Moyes' biggest Everton flop since Per Kroldrup, the Danish centre-half who team-mate Osman claimed had to be coached like a junior to head a football. The former Udinese man only lasted half a season on Merseyside before returning to Serie A and joining Fiorentina.
If the Blues do give up on Dibling though, Leipzig would be a curious choice for him. They are of course the club where Ademola Lookman went when he quit Everton and plenty of young English players have turned to the Bundesliga for a quicker route to senior action in recent years, but given that the Exeter-born prospect already had a spell with Chelsea cut short due to home sickness and Moyes has spoken about his quiet nature, a move to a foreign country at this early stage of his career might seem daunting.
I would hold on to him for now, but big strides are needed in the weeks ahead with tangible signs of progress on the pitch required.
Paul Wheelock's View: Pre-Season Chance
Dens Park may just be the perfect place for Tyler Dibling to get his Everton career up and running. When the Blues make the trip to the home of Dundee for their first pre-season friendly on Saturday week (July 18), they will likely do so with just three out-and-out wingers in their squad given Iliman Ndiaye will be having time off after the World Cup and given Jack Grealish has returned to Manchester City, for now at least.
That means David Moyes' options out wide for the clash with the Scottish Premiership side will amount to Dwight McNeil, new signing Tyrique George and Dibling. The way McNeil bounced back from a difficult first half to the season, followed by the collapse of his transfer deadline day move to Crystal Palace, was heartening. The former Burnley man has been a key player for Everton over the years but given they were prepared to sell him, and given he has just 12 months left on his contract, there looks a strong chance that he represents the club's past, whereas Dibling needs to represent its future.
While there were calls for the former Southampton starlet to be granted more game time last season, he had stiff competition in the form of Ndiaye and Grealish, and bar from the away matches at Burnley and Nottingham Forest, he did not make the most of his albeit limited minutes on the pitch. Should Grealish return and the in-demand Ndiaye remain, as is hoped, it will get no easier for Dibling following the arrival of his friend and fellow England Under-21 international George, who did make an impression in his own cameos in the second half of the campaign.
But we have to hope Dibling uses that as fuel to show Moyes and the coaching staff at Finch Farm that he deserves more minutes on the field. We mustn't forget that he is still only 20 and it speaks volumes that a club like RB Leipzig, given their track record of developing young players, are reportedly interested in his services.
So if a bid is forthcoming, this feels too early to cash in. But, as Chris writes above, both Moyes and Blues supporters are desperate to see more from Dibling. Hopefully starting north of the border.
