The Tyler Dibling Everton Project Has Finally Begun…Better Late than Never

Thank God.

After 13 months of speculation, promise, anticipation, dread, disappointment, hype and pretty much every other emotion Everton fans go through with players who don the famous Royal Blue shirt, Tyler Dibling finally produced the performance he, the supporters and especially David Moyes had been craving.

After watching Evertonians go through what felt like the five stages of grief with Dibling, to the point where some had seemingly given up hope on the winger altogether, it was a massive boost to finally be talking so positively about him.

There is no denying this has taken a lot longer than fans and Dibling himself would have envisioned when he made the move from Southampton last summer, initially for £35million, but patience is a virtue and, thankfully for Everton, we've had to do a lot of waiting in recent times.

Wednesday night's 1-0 victory over Wolves in the Carabao Cup was far from exemplary in terms of individual performances…except for Dibling. In what was a scrappy, slow and, for large periods, incredibly frustrating evening as Everton struggled to break the Championship side down, Dibling seemed to be the spark the team needed to push on. It was ultimately his pass that found Charly Alcaraz before the Argentine finished brilliantly to decide the game in the Toffees' favour.

Yes, Wolves were shite for the majority of the game. Yes, they are a Championship team and we will face much harder opponents. Yes, virtually every other Everton outfield player was subpar. But that's almost missing the point. The opposition didn't particularly matter when assessing the things that made Dibling's performance so encouraging. It was the intent, application and determination. It was regularly beating his man, trying to create something and actually looking like he wanted to make things happen.

For perhaps the first time since he arrived, it felt like us fans could collectively say Tyler Dibling had changed a game for Everton for the better. He was boss. Now, he needs to keep doing it.

The £40million Elephant in the Room

I can’t say I particularly feel for a player who is only 20 years old and is making more money a week than I will in a year, but playing for Everton is not an easy feat, and I am sure Dibling knows that. We are a massive club, and expectations are sky-high with new owners, a new stadium, and the collective desire of the club and its supporters to finally get a trophy after 31 years without one. Everton fans can be incredibly demanding of their players too and, when things aren't going well, you will certainly know about it.

You could potentially say the same about Harrison Armstrong, Tyrique George and seemingly every Everton player younger than me (24), a group that gets depressingly bigger every year. Armstrong, as an academy product and an Evertonian himself, knows the club inside out. George initially arrived as a loan project before Everton decided to bring him back permanently this summer.

So, why has Tyler Dibling always felt different? Simple. He cost £40 bloody million.

Any Everton fan from last summer will remember the stress and uncertainty surrounding those negotiations. Everton had earlier bids rejected before eventually getting their man from down south, and it was an incredibly exciting prospect. Despite playing in a Southampton side destined for relegation, Dibling had produced enough during the 2024/25 Premier League campaign to establish himself as one of the most exciting young talents in the country. Everton weren't buying the finished article; they were investing heavily in the player they believed Dibling could eventually become.

🚨🔵 Tyler Dibling to Everton, here we go! Deal in place for talented winger to join #EFC after long negotiations.

Verbal agreement at £42m plus sell-on clause to Southampton, long term deal for Dibling agreed back in July.

Formal steps next, as @ElBobble @_pauljoyce reported. pic.twitter.com/yzvviaDHEz

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 22, 2025

But the price tag has done nothing but hurt Dibling’s reputation at Hill Dickinson so far. Whatever he did, he was stigmatised by the transfer fee and that would never leave him. He was £40 million Tyler Dibling instead of just…Tyler Dibling. Every poor performance wasn't simply met with questions over whether he'd played badly or whether he was good enough. Instead, it became: Have Everton really wasted that much money on… that?

Price tags are nothing but a detriment to these players, and with the absurdity of the money involved in transfers these days, if a player doesn’t meet the expectations that come with the price tag, they will feel the brunt of it. Just look at the other team on Merseyside and the scrutiny surrounding their two £100million-plus signings last year, Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz. If they don’t perform like their price tag seemingly judges them as, the fans will have a go and rightly so.

That doesn't mean the criticism Dibling received was unjustified, though. Regardless of whether Everton paid £40million or £4million, he simply hadn't been good enough.

Where Had the Southampton Dibling Gone?

A lot of Blues thought we'd got a nifty little player when Dibling eventually put pen to paper, including me. But that wasn't reciprocated when he got his minutes last season. He looked timid, afraid and reluctant to take anyone on. The freedom he'd played with at Southampton had suddenly dissipated and what we were left with was a hollow version of the winger who didn't seem to know what to do when the ball reached his feet.

That was perhaps the most frustrating part. It wasn't simply that things weren't coming off for him; too often, it felt like he wasn't even attempting the things that had made Everton want him in the first place. Receive the ball. Defender in front of him. Stop. Turn around. Safe pass backwards. Where was the kid who used to drive at Premier League defenders without seemingly giving a shit who was standing in front of him?

Chances admittedly came few and far between, partially because Jack Grealish's arrival on loan added serious depth out wide alongside Iliman Ndiaye, meaning Dibling's opportunities usually came from the bench or during cup games. Ndiaye's AFCON involvement eventually opened the door to some league starts, yet Dibling didn't take those opportunities by the scruff of the neck. He subsequently found himself behind Dwight McNeil of all people.

Talk about a low blow.

By early May, David Moyes wasn't hiding what he wanted either. Dibling had started only four Premier League matches and played just 513 minutes in all competitions, with Moyes publicly demanding more from a player Everton had invested so much faith and money in. And then he disappeared altogether. Dibling didn't feature in any of Everton's final nine Premier League matches, leaving plenty of us wondering what exactly came next.

Something Changed

That's why pre-season was so intriguing. Something looked different. It was Dibling's body language. He seemed more confident, more willing to get involved and, crucially, more prepared to attack players again. Everton supporters remarked that something had seemingly changed from the very beginning of pre-season. Assistant Manager Alan Irvine has subsequently confirmed much the same thing, saying Dibling returned looking more comfortable and like somebody who finally belonged at the club.

It was obvious from day one of pre-season that something had changed for the better.
His body language was different,more positive.
He looked an extremely accomplished player last night.
The passes for Johnson and Alcaraz were like a number 10.
Then there was that lung busting… https://t.co/RfWWfREOT9

— Elton Welsby (@WelsbyElton) September 17, 2026

Irvine also offered some fascinating context after the Wolves victory. Dibling is, by his account, a quiet young lad, and adjusting to a club of Everton's size and expectations had understandably taken time. That doesn't excuse what happened last season, but it might help explain some of it.

This wasn't simply a £40million footballer failing to perform. It was a teenager moving away from home, joining one of the biggest clubs in the country and seemingly struggling to become comfortable enough to express the talent that got him there in the first place. Suddenly, the difference in his body language during pre-season makes a little more sense.

There was enough encouragement that people began questioning whether Dibling should start Everton's opening Premier League game against Crystal Palace. George was ultimately preferred, but Dibling would get his opportunity from the start against Preston North End in the Carabao Cup.

He was shit. Well, not quite, but certainly wasn’t impressive. All that pre-season optimism was suddenly being questioned as the Dibling of old started to re-emerge from the shadows. What made matters even worse was that when he was replaced in the 64th minute, new signing Brennan Johnson came on and scored within minutes.

Imagine trying so hard to finally register a goal contribution and your replacement, who, bear in mind, had failed to score during his six-month spell at Crystal Palace, finds the net within minutes of his Everton debut. Ouch. Dibling was subsequently an unused substitute for Everton's next three Premier League fixtures and, with Grealish back in contention, opportunities appeared increasingly difficult to come by.

Thankfully, Dibling got his chance against Wolves knowing full well he had to take it. Alan Irvine had essentially told him exactly that before kick-off, challenging the winger to take the opportunity he'd been waiting for and make Moyes' next team selection difficult.

And take it he did. It wasn’t mesmerising, it wasn’t a generational performance, it won’t be spoken about in years to come, but he was by far the best player on the pitch, and that is saying something. Finally, we started to see the REAL Tyler Dibling, who had energy, pace, aggression, strength, commitment, desire, and most importantly, intent.

Dibling contested more duels than any Everton player with 15 and won a team-high nine. He completed three dribbles, another Everton high, while also making three tackles and creating two chances, including the one that mattered most. His astute pass to assist Alcaraz's winner was the goal contribution he'd been waiting for.

But personally, it wasn't even my favourite moment of his performance. Seconds after playing an inch-perfect pass through to Johnson inside the box, Dibling watched his teammate's effort get saved. His immediate instinct was visible: hands heading towards his head in frustration at the chance going begging. But instead of sulking, or standing around wondering what might have been, he quickly turned around, sprinted back down the other end and stopped a dangerous Wolves counter after Everton's backline had been left exposed. That was far more impressive than the assist to win us that game, and perfectly summed up his performance.

It’s difficult to explain what "Nil Satis Nisi Optimum" actually means to Evertonians.

Sometimes you just see it.

Dibling showed real quality in the pass, but the sprint back to stop the counter is the bit that tells you everything. pic.twitter.com/Gn5PLMSAN6

— Tom Long (@ScoutTom_) September 17, 2026

His display resonated with other Evertonians too. Dibling received a whopping 86.6% of the supporters' Player of the Match vote.

With a whopping 86.6% of the vote, your Player of the Match is Tyler Dibling! 💙 pic.twitter.com/RqKS5jtMPg

— Everton (@Everton) September 16, 2026

There was another lovely detail afterwards. Supporters noticed Jack Grealish putting an arm around Dibling before and after the game, while James Tarkowski was also quickly over to him. Not a bad pair of people to have in your corner. For once, the £40million felt irrelevant. Dibling wasn't Everton's expensive signing. He wasn't the disappointing youngster we'd spent the previous year questioning. He wasn't a transfer fee desperately trying to justify itself.

Time to Kick On

But this has to mean something. This can’t just be a one-off. One Carabao Cup performance against a much-changed Championship side doesn't suddenly erase everything that came before it. It doesn't justify £40million, guarantee Dibling a Premier League starting place or mean the Tyler Dibling project has suddenly been completed.

What impressed me most against Wolves wasn't necessarily the opposition he did it against. Intent, application and determination don't suddenly become meaningless because you're playing a Championship side. Neither does tracking somebody 50 yards towards your own goal after you've just created a chance at the other end. That mentality stays, and even Dibling has recognised that in himself.

Speaking after the game, he explained that he'd played with the confidence to stop worrying about everybody else and simply believe in himself. He also spoke about pushing himself harder while simultaneously learning not to be quite so hard on himself. Even more tellingly, Dibling said he finally feels settled at Everton. He has mates within the group, enjoys coming into training and can hear the support Evertonians give him when he's on the pitch.

🗣️Tyler Dibling on settling at Everton & support from Evertonians: “I've got a lot of mates in the group now and I'm settled. I like coming into training and it's just easier so obviously that shows on the pitch. I had a good pre-season and tonight was good.

“I definitely feel… pic.twitter.com/ydMHUJIexF

— Everton FC News 💙 (@NilSatisNews) September 17, 2026

I don’t have favourite players at Everton, mainly because they’re all rubbish, but there are a certain select few that if they do well become more rewarding to me, and Dibling is one of them. A successful season for him will do him the world of good, getting his first goal, changing games for the better, being a mainstay in this Everton squad, that is what he must aim for next.

And he's now got people around him who can help. If Grealish really is taking the youngster under his wing, Dibling could hardly ask for many better mentors when it comes to learning how to receive the ball under pressure, draw defenders towards him and have the confidence to keep demanding possession when things don't come off.

Everton didn't spend £35million potentially rising further simply for the player Dibling was when he arrived; they invested in the player he could become. After 13 months of waiting for those seeds to grow, Wednesday finally offered the first signs of something beginning to bloom. Please, please, please, make this article age like wine rather than milk down the line, that’s all I ask Tyler.