Southampton’s Tyler Dibling made headlines in the 2024/25 season, despite his club’s dire campaign, which saw clubs such as Manchester United, Manchester City, and Tottenham Hotspur express interest in signing the teenager.
Not many Saints fans would have expected to keep hold of the promising youngster, but with the new Championship season fastly approaching, there may be no bids for the club to take into consideration.
But after so much speculation, why has there been no interest in the player dubbed as the ‘next big thing’?
Southampton’s ‘£100m’ Asking Price
In March 2025, the Telegraph reported that Southampton had put a £100m price tag on their newest academy product. Were the club ever suggesting they wanted this extortionate figure for such an unproven talent? No. This figure was more deterrent than anything.
And it worked. The transfer speculation over Tyler Dibling died down in the following weeks and months. But after the sacking of manager Russell Martin and a niggling injury, the youngster’s form began to decline at the same rate as his media coverage. He did not have the same time on the ball in Ivan Juric’s system as he had under Martin.
With Southampton down and out, the teenager found himself on fewer marauding runs than he had been doing prior. The fearlessness that had made his talent look so raw and electrifying was less prevalent in his game.
Difficult Contract Talks
Behind the scenes, Southampton have tried to get Tyler Dibling to commit to a new deal. His current contract runs until 2027, but the club will hope to have his long-term future secured by then, whether it’s on the south coast or sold elsewhere for pure profit.
Currently, it appears that Dibling’s agent has been challenging in the contract process. The nineteen-year-old will have hopes to play in the Premier League, which isn’t somewhere Southampton have been able to stay consistently over the past three seasons.
How Much Would Southampton Accept?
With Dibling’s contract running down, this is the last summer where Southampton will be able to sell him for the true price that they value him at. This is the main reason he could still go, so the Saints maximise their income on a player who cost them nothing, as a product of the academy.
While owners Sport Republic aren’t looking for a fee close to the astronomical figure of £100m, the club will still want a price that reflects the ceiling of such a promising player.
Southampton will demand a figure of around £50m for the England U21 international if he is to leave this summer.
Saints Boss and Dibling Ignore Speculation
Despite all the outside noise, Dibling’s head is down and focused ahead of the new campaign. ‘I don’t try to think about it (transfer speculation) and just try and go into train every day and work hard and train the best I can,’ Dibling said on the talk around him.
‘At the end of the day, I love Southampton. I have been here since I was eight. It’s such a great team and I am working to do big things with them.’
New Saints manager Will Still has further backed up Dibling’s intent on focusing ahead of next season. ‘Tyler’s still here. I’ve had a good conversation with him; he’s not close to anything, really.’
While the interest may heat back up, it will take a bid close to £50m to interest Southampton, who do not need to make any big sales this summer, as they are comfortably complying with PSR.
Dibling and the rest of his Saints teammates will hope to start the new season well in their quest for Premier League retribution.
