Tyler Dibling left Southampton’s academy for Chelsea but left after two games… Saints almost refused to welcome him back

TYLER DIBLING left Southampton for Chelsea and was almost denied a return to the south coast.

The Saints winger, 18, broke into Russell Martin’s first team this season and has been a bright spark for the struggling Premier League side.

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He started eight of their 14 matches, scoring in the 1-1 draw against Ipswich in September.

Dibling also assisted twice in a 5-3 win over Cardiff in the Carabao Cup.

He spent the last decade of his life as a Southampton academy prospect – albeit for a few months in 2022.

Dibling, who was suspended for the Saints’ 5-1 defeat to Chelsea on Wednesday, joined the Blues shortly after going viral for scoring a hat-trick against Newcastle in a Premier League 2 match.

He was offered around £3,000 a week to stay at St Mary’s, but Chelsea offered more to take him away.

However, the Exeter-born striker struggled to settle in at the west London club as he suffered from a lack of confidence in a more unforgiving environment.

And after just TWO appearances for Chelsea’s youth team, talks began to bring him back to Southampton.

According to The Athletic, some Saints executives were concerned about “the message it would send to other academy players who leave Southampton and then decide they prefer their old surroundings” if they were to take him back.

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But Matt Hale, Southampton’s academy director at the time, wanted the club’s best players and saw that Dibling was one of them.

So they offered him a contract with a much reduced salary compared to the offer they had submitted before he joined Chelsea – and he signed it.

And Dave Horseman, the club’s academy coach at the time of Dibling’s return, praised the teenager’s attitude.

He said: “When I found out he was coming back, I sat all the U21s and U18s down and explained what was going on.

“When he came back from Chelsea, he went to the U18s. He had to earn the right to come back.

“He never whined, at least not to us, and looking back, when you put the pieces together, he showed he was a strong character.

“He had to calm down and go back, and I’m sure Tyler felt uncomfortable when he came back.”

Dibling signed a new deal in February 2023 to keep him at the club until 2027.

But SunSport revealed Manchester United and Aston Villa have already sent scouts to attend his last three matches.

German and Italian clubs would also be interested.

And he will almost certainly leave if Southampton are relegated this season.

Martin’s men sit bottom of the Premier League, seven points from safety after winning just one of their opening 14 matches.