2 days ago
'Dibling gets rave reviews'
Tyler Dibling gets rave reviews when I speak to senior players and former players about him. They see a young English talent who has great potential and huge natural ability.
Dibling has great balance, poise, power and strength for his age. The ball sticks to his feet when he is dribbling and he can win free-kicks by sucking defenders in only to shift the ball away from them in a Jack Grealish style.
Last season was a steep learning curve for him. It was a tough campaign for a teenager to deal with. He was brilliant at times but as the season faded for Southampton, it also faded for Dibling.
His niggling injuries impacted him as well as the vagaries of trying to play at the highest level week in week out, which few 18-year-olds can do.
He is a quiet and thoughtful teenager, who doesn't look for the centre stage, but his talent is good enough to demand it at some point in the future, if he keeps growing as he has.
I've said all summer that Southampton should be trying to get £40-50m for him, so we will see what the club accept at the end of the day, if he wants to go to Everton of course.
He went to Chelsea as a youngster but didn't like it and came back to Saints, so that in itself says a lot about what is important to him.
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