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.