Tyler Dibling to Everton: ‘Deal agreed’ will see David Moyes break transfer record with Toffees spending to exceed £100m

Everton are reportedly closing in on the signing of Southampton attacker Tyler Dibling after agreeing a fee with the Championship club.

The 19-year-old has been tipped to leave the Saints throughout the summer transfer window since they were relegated from the Premier League last season.

Dibling has previously been linked with the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, but Everton are the club who have expressed the most interest in the promising youngster.

The Toffees had been frustrated in negotiations with Southampton after seeing three bids knocked back by the Saints, who allegedly presented a counter offer worth in the region of £45m.

Crystal Palace are understood to have expressed a late interest in Dibling as they seek to replace Arsenal-bound Eberechi Eze, but a deal is now in place for the attacker to make the move to Everton.

Dibling set to become Moyes’s record signing as Everton manager

According to multiple reports, including one from Sky Sports News, Everton have now reached an agreement with Southampton to sign Dibling for an initial £42m plus £6m in add-ons, which are easily achievable based on appearances.

A 20% sell-on clause is also said to have been inserted in the deal for Dibling, who has already agreed personal terms with the Toffees and is soon expected to undergo a medical before finalising his move.

Should the deal be completed, Dibling will become David Moyes’s most expensive signing as Everton manager across two spells in charge of the club, eclipsing the £27m spent on striker Thierno Barry from Villarreal earlier this summer.

Dibling is also set to become Everton’s eighth signing of the summer, with the Toffees’ spending set to exceed £100m as Moyes has already spent £75m on seven of those new arrivals.

Barry, Carlos Alcaraz, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Adam Aznou, Mark Travers and Tom King have all completed permanent moves to Everton, while Jack Grealish has joined on loan from Manchester City with an option to buy.

Widely regarded as one of the brightest English prospects on the market, Dibling established himself as a first-team regular at Southampton last season and chipped in with four goals and three assists in 38 games across all competitions.

Dibling arrival a boost for Moyes after “very difficult” transfer window

Moyes will welcome the signing of Dibling after stating at his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s Premier League clash with Brighton & Hove Albion that Everton have struggled to spend money after missing out on a number of key targets.

"We have money to spend and we are trying to spend it," Moyes told reporters. "It is not we don't have the money to spend, we do have, but we're finding it very difficult to spend the money at the moment.

"We've really gone for some top players, but unfortunately we've not been able to get them, so we might be finding ourselves coming down the ladder to find players because we are short on numbers generally. We are going to have to adjust."

Asked what has been preventing Everton from winning the race for top targets, Moyes said: "Absolutely Europe. If you have European football you attract a different level of player, you are more attractive.

"We have got to build an awful lot of trust with players and maybe agents to show we are a club moving in the right direction.

"I think our ownership have come in and helped us and they will give us a chance to spend more money but I believe the better players want European football, most of them or a lot of them do."

Everton’s clash with Brighton this weekend will represent their first in the Premier League at their newly-built Hill Dickinson Stadium, with all of their new signings in contention to be involved in this fixture.