Russell up a deal for one-off talent Tyler

MARTIN MADE CASE FOR WHY BLUES SHOULD TAKE £50M DIBLING PUNT

- By CHRIS BEESLEY

FORMER Southampton manager Russell Martin has proclaimed that Everton target Tyler Dibling is the best player he’s ever worked with and “he has something I've not seen in a British player in a long time.”

The Saints, preparing for their first game back in the Championship against Wrexham on Saturday, have withdrawn Dibling from full contact training amid talks over a potential move to the Blues.

The 19-year-old has been the subject of three offers this summer from Everton, with their most recent bid being £40mil-lion plus £5million in add-ons, a similar figure to their record signing Gylfi Sigurdsson in 2017.

Although Dibling is believed to have told Southampton he wants to leave, the Post’s sister paper the ECHO understands he has not submitted a formal transfer request and St Mary’s chiefs won't budge over their asking price.

Speaking to Gary Lineker on his The Rest Is Football podcast back in April, former Southampton manager Martin - now in charge at Rangers, alongside former Everton director of football Kevin Thelwell - reckoned that Dibling would be “worth every penny” for any potential suitors this summer though.

Beginning the segment with a reference to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who Leicester-born Lineker lamented the Foxes had to sell after winning promotion to the Premier League last summer, Martin said of the midfielder who joined Everton from Chelsea on Wednesday: “He was brilliant, he was the best player in the Championship last season.”