Tyler Dibling burst onto the Saints first team scene appearing on the bench at Brentford after his exploits in the Academy side, but as he turns 17 he hast turned his back on Southampton and headed for Chelsea.

According to media reports Tylar Dibling has decided to cut his ties with Saints and join the academy set up after leaving school in the summer.

After Dibling and his Father visited various premiership clubs including Newcastle, the Chelsea fan from Axminster in Devon chose the club he supports.

Southampton FC will now receive just a compensation package for the 16-year-old regarded by some as the hottest young property in English football since Paul Gascoigne.

You would think that Dibling might have learned a lesson or two from the likes of Tino Livramento & Dynel Simeu who would have pointed out that although being an academy player at Chelsea is prestigious, the actual chances of breaking into the first team are minimal, especially since the new owners are now in place who now seem to be heading very much into spending their way back into the Premier League title chase.

Dibling who turned 16 only in March this year will probably not get a sniff at a Premier League game in the next 3-4 years, Mason Mount one of the few players to make the breakthrough to the first team had to wait almost to his 21st birthday before he appeared in the Premier league and had spent two seasons out on loan, firstly at Vitesse Arnhem & then Derby County.

So most would say that Dibling could well have made his first team debut in the coming season for Southampton had he chosen to stay at St Mary's and that his path to Chelsea's first team might have been a lot quicker for that choice.

But there seems to be one reason why Dibling has chosen Stamford bridge as his destination, Chelsea have enticed him with a five year guaranteed contract, paying him a starting wage of £10,000 per week , that will see his wages increase at 17 when he can sign a full professional contract as well as later in his career, even if he fails to match his promise, he will have earned a minimum £2.5 million by the time he is 21, a wage structure Southampton couldn’t match.

After making his decision, the player is expected to put pen to paper this week and is said to have already moved into accommodation near Chelsea’s training ground at Cobham.

It is sad to see that Saints have lost a good prospect, but this is the situation that has been developing at academy level over the last few years, the likes of Chelsea & Manchester City hoover up the best prospects, they know that few will make it into genuine first team regulars, but that many like Tino Livramento will generate transfer income when they leave and add on's etc will be added, leaving Chelsea in a no lose situation, at worst they spend £2.5 million or so on wages even if Dibling has no future in the game, at best he becomes the one in a 100 that becomes a first team regular, but the reality will be somewhere in between.

We wonder why professional footballers are so arrogant and cossetted these days, the answer lies in stories like these where players and their families put financial security above the development of their career's.

Photo: Action Images

wrathoftazz added 13:16 - Jul 27 Financial security or end up like Gazza? Come on please.... who wouldn't take financial security for you and your family over the unknown. He also sees what 99% of the rest of us see... Ralph means championship, so why bother staying and run the risk of being stuck in a 2nd rate league
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landsdownsaint added 13:18 - Jul 27 My friends son was at Chelsea academy as a goalkeeper he got so disillusioned with it he completely gave up football at 16/17 , regards Tyler i think he’s made a seriously bad decision there
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NYC_Saint added 13:48 - Jul 27 Have to say how many protégés have complelty failed to make the grade and now play semi pro if at all? Billy Gilmour was the next best thing at Chelsea and he could only play about half of Norwich's games on loan in a season they went down. Hesketh, Josh Sims etc never made it so if someone is waving 2.5 mn in your face I think it's impossible to turn down. The bigger issue though is how Chelsea can just throw their pocket change at a punt on him leaving us no way to compete. I'd suggest the tribunal that decides compensation should start with 5 x the contract value and work up from there. Big teams would then have to think very hard about how much cash they lure teenagers with and make it a more level plying ground.

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darkangelv2 added 14:32 - Jul 27 Putting Financial security over their career? Financial security is literally what my career is attempting to deliver! The sooner you have it, the sooner you can enjoy it. He might want to retire at 21 for all you know! I don't begrudge anyone for making a sensible financial decision - this kid will have a better idea of what's right for HIM than any of us.
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erick added 14:49 - Jul 27 Last season it was Max Allyne a defender to Man City, this season it is Dibbling. The compensation package is probably less than half a mil since he had no contract with us, pennies on the dollar. Our academy has really good prospects in Ballard, Pearce, Doyle, Payne, and a few others who really want to succeed the Southampton way. We should just wish success to players who want to leave and let them go.

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underweststand added 14:54 - Jul 27 Chelsea gave him a 5 year contract and v. good wage deal so he'd be stupid to refuse. Sorry to see a young talent leave so early in his career, but I wish him well anyway. It will take him time to progress - especially at Chelsea - where almost everyone in their first team squad is an international, and if he doesn't make it - then clubs (like Saints) will be glad to take him off their hands when he's 19 or 20. We saw the quality we got with Livramento and Broja last season and it might be argued that even a team like Chelsea / or Man. City's U23's might survive in the Championship - if they were there. Last season we sold a 15 year old Max Alleyne to Man. City (did I read a £1,5 million fee) and he was part of the City side that won the U18 play-off final v. Saints. If the top teams are noticing our best players, then they will come at make offers. With our history of teenage talents like Walcott, Bale , Alex-Ox and Shaw still in our memories you can be sure Tyler won't be the last Saints' talent to get an invitation. From Saints' point of view let's hope they got a contract with add-ons and a sell on %.

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SaintNick added 14:59 - Jul 27 Darkangel, when you embark upon a career, you look at it from a career perspective not instant money, if you want to become an architect you base your decisions on what is the best University etc, not which one offers the best nightlife or tuition fees, it is about making the right decisions and then the money will come later. "this kid will have a better idea of what's right for HIM than any of us." Since when has a 16 year old having just left school actually known what is best for them long term, we get wiser in life as we grow older.

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darkangelv2 added 15:08 - Jul 27 Nick, with all due respect, when you embarked upon your career, YOU may have looked at it from a career perspective rather than instant money. My point is, merely, that this is your perspective. This kid already IS a footballer (and will be a professional at 17) and will, by the age of 21, have earned a significant amount of money that will allow him to take up any career he wishes. He might not see himself being a footballer forever - to your point, he's a kid. His financial position is assured with this move. A career ending injury at 17 with Saints would see him starting a new career with far less money behind him. To me, that makes his decision far more prudent than you give him credit for.

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derbydog added 15:11 - Jul 27 It always amuses me when fans and fan sites bleat when they lose a player to a bigger club. Saints have picked up several kids from so-called smaller clubs such as Birmingham and I imagine their fan websites bleated when we have do so. The rules say you can’t tie a player down until their 17th birthday so praise them when we sign a player and blame them when we lose one. Them’s the breaks, as someone recently said in another context. In the meantime we get £1.5m compensation, the player gets £2.5m wages and we may never hear of him again. As we are now a largely French-speaking club, c’est la vie…

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highfield49 added 15:46 - Jul 27 As much as most of us would have wanted Dibling to stay with the club the fact is, as has already been posted, his career might be cut short by injury at any time. We're all hoping and expecting that Livramento will be back in the team some time soon after Christmas but another injury, in training or soon after his return to fitness, could be the end of his professional dreams. Let's wish Tyler well at the club he grew up supporting and be grateful that he isn't squandering his ability at the likes of Newcastle.

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Jesus_02 added 17:59 - Jul 27 2,5m is a daft amount. He would be daft to turn it down. As others have pointed out saints have done similar things to other clubs. Personally I think the FA should re-visit how academy's can still function without losing out to the top few clubs. Instead the FA are hand in glove with the money guys... I wonder why? Its not just the buying and selling of academy players . Its the fact that Chelsea operate acadamys of a sort on a national level right down to school level. Bitterne Parke Jnr school after school football is run by Chelsea!

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Block8 added 20:01 - Jul 27 Maybe he has looked at his chances here, with us signing youngsters from the bigger clubs and thought his chances of progress were remote? As I've stated before when was our last academy player introduced to the first team? Tella doesn't count, Smallbone has hardly had a chance. The academy path to the first team is narrowed with every 18/19 year old we sign from elsewhere. However 2.5 million is a motivation whoever you are and maybe we can buy him back for £10 million when he is 19 and still untested, that's our new way!

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