Southampton have made a counter-offer to Everton as talks continue over a deal for Tyler Dibling to join the Merseyside club.
Following the latest Everton bid that was worth in the region of £40million, Southampton came back with a proposal of £45m plus £5m in easily achievable bonuses and a 25 per cent sell-on clause.
That is beyond what Everton would be looking to pay for the 19-year-old winger and Southampton have been informed of their intention to focus on other targets, who are being pursued in parallel, due to the wide valuation gap.
Southampton do not plan to reduce their price owing to a belief that Dibling is the best young English player on the market and key to their aims of being promoted back to the Premier League.
The England youth international’s Southampton contract runs until 2027, and Everton had already had an opening bid for him turned down this summer.
Dibling enjoyed a breakthrough 2024-25 season after making his Premier League debut in August. He finished the campaign with four goals and three assists across 38 appearances in all competitions.
He progressed through the Southampton youth system, before moving to Chelsea in 2022. However, he rejoined the south coast club later that year.
The Southampton academy graduate has made 43 senior appearances for the club, scoring four goals and providing three assists.
Everton are expected to be active in the final weeks of the transfer window, and The Athletic reported on Monday they were in talks with Chelsea over the permanent transfer of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall for an initial fee of £25million.
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