Tottenham Hotspur-linked Southampton starlet Tyler Dibling is on the cusp of moving to Everton
Tottenham Hotspur endured a slow start to the summer transfer window after failing to land several intended targets.
Thomas Frank’s club suffered their first blow of the transfer window when Nottingham Forest blocked a move for Morgan Gibbs-White, despite the Lilywhites triggering the player’s release clause. Son Heung-min’s abrupt departure to MLS club Los Angeles FC and James Maddison’s serious knee injury have created further problems for Spurs. And on Wednesday evening, Arsenal coming out of nowhere and hijacking the Eberechi Eze deal has only added to the Lilywhites’ misery.
Things must change for better and the north London club must pick up pace in the transfer market that is entering its final stages. Losing Eze to Arsenal is a huge setback, but the Hotspur Way chiefs are not sitting quite and working hard behind the scenes to address the creativity woes. However, Spurs have now also lost one of their summer’s key targets to one of their Premier League rivals.
Tottenham-linked Southampton winger Tyler Dibling close to joining Everton
Tottenham have been interested in signing Southampton starlet Tyler Dibling for some time now. The teenager scored two goals in 33 Premier League appearances for the Saints last season and was one of the few positives from what was a horrible season for the club, ending in relegation.
At one point of time, Southampton had price their academy graduate out of a move for clubs with a £100m valuation, but they have since eased on it. According to a report from The Athletic, Everton have agreed a fee worth over £40 million with Southampton for Tyler Dibling. The clubs have reached a compromise in principle which includes £6m in add-ons, easily achievable on appearances, and a 20 per cent sell-on clause.
Another blow for Tottenham
It has been a summer of setbacks for Tottenham, and Everton agreeing a fee with Southampton for Dibling should come as another devastating blow.
Paying £100m for the English talent was never the plan and not realistic for Spurs, but the Toffees bringing that price down to an overall package of £40 million shows how inefficient our negotiating team has been in this window. One of the highly-rated English talents, Dibling would have fit right into the north London club’s transfer strategy. Signing a flexible player like him would have improved the quality and depth of Frank’s squad required to compete hard on all four fronts.
That said, Everton winning the race for Dibling shows how incompetent Levy and Tottenham have been in this transfer window. With Dibling set to move to Merseyside, where will Levy turn his focus to?