How Southampton’s Will Still feels about Eberechi Eze’s potential effect on Tyler Dibling transfer

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The speculation surrounding Southampton ace Tyler Dibling has taken yet another twist.

Southampton are already planning for life without Dibling, with EFL Analysis’ football correspondent Graeme Bailey confirming the Saints are interested in Middlesbrough’s Finn Azaz.

Dibling has had significant interest from Everton and Crystal Palace have taken note of the 19-year-old, too. Most notably for Southampton, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano says Tottenham are interested in Dibling.

This follows the news that their north London rivals Arsenal are swooping in to sign their target, Palace’s Eberechi Eze in a £67.5 million deal. Now, Saints boss Still has given his take on whether Spurs missing out on the England international will have an effect on Dibling’s St Mary’s future.

Will Still says ‘it is what it is’ when quizzed on Tyler Dibling’s suitors’ transfer activity

When asked if Arsenal’s reported impending signing of Eberechi Eze opens up the market for Dibling’s exit, the former Lens manager let out a laugh before putting his head in his hands jokingly.

“I don’t know!” he smiled. “I have no idea, you’ll have to ask Crystal Palace or Arsenal or Tottenham.

“Again, I read all this stuff at the same time you guys do and I saw the Sky Sports News at 8 o’clock this morning with ‘breaking news’. It’s just, it is what it is.”

While he gave little away on the subject of Eze’s move, Still made sure to highlight that the transfer rumours haven’t affected Dibling.

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He also reassured Saints fans that West Ham target Mateus Fernandes is also keeping a level head after the Hammers had a £30million bid rejected for him.

He continued: “Ty’s fine by the way! He trained really well and he’s fine, he’s relaxed. Same thing goes for [Mateus Fernandes] and all the rest. If something happens, you’ll probably know before I do!”

Southampton face top of the table Stoke City – who are waiting on transfer dealings of their own – this Saturday and Still says the two in-demand Saints players will be available as usual to play.

“Yeah, 100% [they’re available]” he said. “We have a squad of 24 players that are fit and ready to play. Only 18 can be on a team sheet, so we’re going to make decisions on the football side of it and ignore the rest of it.”

2026 World Cup a potential stumbling block for Southampton deals

While dealing with potential outgoings, Southampton have been working on bringing in players too in their bid to get back to the Premier League, including Azaz and Manchester City’s Issa Kabore.

However, while not explicitly saying which deals he was referring to, Still says the Saints face an unexpected key issue when bringing in new players – the 2026 World Cup.

Many stars know that game time in the best leagues in the world will be key to earning a spot in their respective national teams for the tournament, and the new Southampton boss says some players aren’t willing to play in the Championship as a result.

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After confirming the club were looking to bring in signings before the end of the week, Still said: “There’s a load of things that come up. For example, national team coaches telling players they need to be in first division clubs or top five leagues to get into contention and thinking about World Cups and stuff.”

When it was highlighted that the second tier can match those leagues, he said: “That’s what I don’t get, but that’s for other people to [consider].”

Despite the current blocks in movement of transfers both in and out, it’s likely to be a busy very end to the window for Southampton.