Tottenham Hotspur have missed out on at least a handful of credible attacking midfield options this summer transfer window. Eberechi Eze to Arsenal is the highest profile and most recent of the snubs, but it was almost as brutal watching Morgan Gibbs-White agree to a deal with Spurs, only to end up re-signing a contract extension with Nottingham Forest anyway.
Spurs also missed out on James McAtee, who moved from Manchester City to Nottingham Forest, and Rayan Cherki early in the window. RB Leipzig star Xavi Simons would be a dream signing, but he's made it abundantly clear on several occasions in reports by top transfer insiders that he only wants to move to rivals Chelsea.
After Eze chose to join Arsenal, Tottenham have been scrambling to sign anyone, and one of the bottom-of-the-barrel options is Tyler Dibling from Southampton. The top young prospect only scored a couple of Premier League goals in his debut as a starter at the top level last season, disappointing in the end.
But he is still just 19 and a high-upside player. So while he is far from the ideal option for Tottenham and would not start right off the bat, he was on their radar. Now, though, he's off it, and even Dibling, the lowest-ranked of the Tottenham transfer targets at the 10 position, has found a new home in the Premier League.
Tottenham transfer target signing 42M deal
Fabrizio Romano gave Dibling to Everton the fabled "here we go", and perhaps the Toffees hearing the mumblings that Spurs were interested in the Saints teenage sensation was enough to spur them into action to officially sign Dibling.
A deal is reportedly in place between Everton and Southampton on a whopping 42 million pound transfer with an additional sell-on clause for the Saints to profit from, should the U21 talent shine and move on from Everton to an even bigger club.
Dibling has talent and potential, but 42 million pounds for a player who would have been nowhere near the Tottenham starting lineup as a playmaking No. 10 or a wide playmaker on the wings would have been, in all honesty, absolutely asinine.
Tottenham fans will be happy Dibling went to a worse Premier League club for a ton of money, and Spurs supporters will be pushing the team hard to go after a world-class player. But those options are few and far between at this late stage of the transfer window with the 2025/26 Premier League season under way. It's all down to the Diblings now, and even they are finding homes fast, too.