Everton target Tyler Dibling has been hailed as being the best player he’s ever worked with by former Southampton manager Russell Martin

Former Southampton manage 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, who are preparing for their first game back in the Championship against newly promoted Wrexham on Saturday, have withdrawn Diblin from full contact training amid talks over a potential move to the Blues.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 £40million 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 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 Russell 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.

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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.”

Talk soon turns to Dibling though and Martin said: “It’s so hard because when I was there, I had to balance everything and try and play it down a lot. I don’t want to make things more difficult for him, but he is the most talented player I’ve ever seen, that I’ve worked with.

“That I’ve seen live, that I’ve seen on the training pitch. So, I worked with James Maddison at that age at Norwich, he was outstanding.