07 Aug 2025 21:42:56
Antony Gordon was sold for £45 million at the age of 22 to Newcastle, after scoring 7 goals and 2 assists in 1 and a half seasons in the PL.
Many thought that the barcodes had had their pants down.
When Gordon was the same age Dibling is now. He was struggling to get into a Preston North End side in the Championship and got 0 goals and 0 assists.
He is now seen as one of the best wingers in the league and is probably valued at 60/ 70 million.
Maybe a better comparison for a player that some fans hold in higher regard. Richarlison. We signed him for £45 million at 21 and a single season in the PL. He managed 5 goals and 4 assists for a Watford side that finished 14th. It is worth bearing in mind that this was a side that had much better players than Southampton did last season, a few of them being ex-Evertonians in Del Boy, Cleverley, Doucs and then Will Hughes, Capoue and Deeney.
Dibling is 19 and has already played a full season in the PL. 35% of his entire senior career from U18's and above are PL games.
The lad played in one of the worst PL sides in history. He played on the RW, the 10 and as a false 9, which I think goes someway to showing just how short on quality they were.
Personally, I don't see signing him as a risk, his ability is already there for all to see. What he would offer us from his overall threat on the pitch, will supersede plain numbers. The willingness to work hard, the thirst to track back and help his team. His ball-carrying abilities, getting us all off our seats as he bursts into the final 3rd with Ndiaye and KDH as options to his left, as opposed to Adam Armstrong and Smallbone. Goals and assists will come naturally.
Whilst I think KDH is an astute signing and I cannot find any fault with it whatsoever. At 19, KDH was promoted from the under-18 squad to the under-23's and 2 years later went on to win the development squad player of the year. Dibling was scoring PL goals, although not many, for a bottom of the table club. He was putting the best defenders in the hardest league in the world to the sword most weeks. Some simply unable to keep up with his pace, power and close ball control. He was winning penalties at OT and against Liverpool and was more than competing on a physical level, in fact, he was putting seasoned professionals on their arses with either his strength or his agility.
Just get it done.
07 Aug 2025 22:46:11
Very good points there BN, had not thought of the Gordon comparison. Will be interesting to see how it devolops.
08 Aug 2025 00:31:31
Good post BN, think he’s well worth a punt myself.
08 Aug 2025 00:41:20
Plus stating the obvious he walks into our starting 11 and improves it.
08 Aug 2025 06:52:24
That’s a great post bluenose.
08 Aug 2025 07:13:05
One player doesn't make a team. If we overpay for this player it may impact others. So if we move on, we move on.
We have money but it's being spread very thin so if we have a ceiling then so be it. I don't see Dibling as the be all and end all. Our desperation for players can't outweigh sensible spending.
Be patient.
08 Aug 2025 08:33:16
Agree BN, trouble is fans keep looking at the money and because we are not use to spending large amounts of money on players we can't get our heads around it. But this lad is going to be a top top player, and though I feel the price they are asking for him is fair, I don't think the 25% sell on is fair and that is probably the biggest sticking point for the club.
Personally I really hope we get this sorted because he would very quickly become a fan favourite, and people would see we actually got a bargain.
08 Aug 2025 08:43:39
Very good original post. If the finance is there then we should spend on players such as Dibbling. Our future proofing for finance will be so much stronger now at BMD. Plus if he does well we'd likely move for a profit as well.
08 Aug 2025 08:50:34
Not so sure Gordon is classed as one of the best wingers in the league.
6 goals and 6 assists last season isn’t amazing.
08 Aug 2025 11:42:49
The stadium is a business and has huge costs associated with it. You can't just take all the profits from it and start putting it to buying players.
£50m is just the cost to Southampton then probably 10m to agents and admin fees, the player wages on top and if in the future you're giving away 25% profit, it starts to look like a very expensive deal we get very little out of.
On top of the costs youve then got to hope he makes it as a player as he's a 19 year old 1 season player. I'm not saying he wouldn't but it's a big risk with a lot of money.
As an example Moise Kean.
08 Aug 2025 13:03:51
Forget Diblings stats. Some players just perform better in a different environment. Some clubs just suit players. Take Piennar. Great for us, not very good for spurs, comes back to us and great again. If Dibling does sign and it's either 45 million or 50 million, then don't worry bout it. It's not coming out of our pockets. Just get behind the kid as some fans can be fickle and seem to enjoy seeing a big fee player fail.
08 Aug 2025 13:18:12
As the old saying goes, “Just pay the man…. ”.
08 Aug 2025 14:05:43
Spot on Brass. Personally it is one or the other for me. A big fee or a more modest fee with a clause. Can't have both.
If they don't budge on that, I think the right thing to do would be to walk away or it sets a poor precedent. But fans saying he isn't worth the money is something I don't understand. All a game of opinions I guess.
Not at all surprised that you find one thing from the whole post that you can disagree with good - it is your favourite thing to do after all.
Gordon is comfortably in the top 5 wingers in the league. Salah and Saka, then possibly Mbuemo but he isn't a clear cut winger. Elanga, Bowen, Semenyo if you want to argue, so yes, he is one of the best wingers in the league.
He had his injuries last season. Let's just forget the season before of 11 goals and 16 assists ey.
08 Aug 2025 14:30:53
Spot on as usually, BN. Great read pal.
08 Aug 2025 15:18:32
Wonder why none of the top boys are in for him?
08 Aug 2025 15:52:16
Had this discussion the other day with a blue dms.
Look at how the big sides have operated in this window. They are buying players that are proven in the top European leagues already. They aren't willing to risk spending a fair amount on talent. They would rather chuck an extra 20/ 30 million on top and get a Cunha, Mbuemo, Gyokeres etc or an extra 65 million in Wirtz's case.
Not to mention that a lot of the top teams already have a ridiculous amount of players to choose from already, especially in Diblings position.
Chelsea - Palmer, Estevao
Arsenal - Saka, Madueke, Nwaneri
Liverpool - Salah, Frimpong,
City - Foden, Savinho, Cherki
United have taken risks on younger players that haven't paid off, hence the proven exp of Cunha and Mbuemo.
That leaves the likes of Spurs, Newcastle (who are apparently linked) who aren't short of options themselves. Johnson, Kulusevski, Kudus. Elanga, Barnes, Murphy.
Newcastle not got the most free of purse strings, nor have Villa.
Brighton have more options in those areas than anyone.
Personally I think it makes for very lucky timing for us to be able to pull the trigger on him but only if the deal is right of course.
08 Aug 2025 17:35:04
Exactly and £50 mill is not the right deal, just my opinion.
08 Aug 2025 18:06:12
2 goals and 2 assists in 36 games last year at Saints. He will get better and may become a elite player but it's a big risk for a club like us.
I would personally go for a player that is tried and tested and pay 50m on. I'm not saying I don't want him but this is a big window for us and we need players coming in and hitting the ground running. A young player will take time settling in and at 19 moving to the other side of the country might also add to the adjustment time for him.
08 Aug 2025 18:37:13
I think around £40 would be ok but if they don't want to let their prized asset go and need to pay a little bit more, I think he will be worth it. My problem is the inflated fee and the clause on top. Can't have it both ways imo.
08 Aug 2025 21:09:25
Them stats look bad but how many balls did he slip through to another player who got the assist or passed or crossed it for a goal scoring opportunity which they scored or missed ? I didn't watch southampton much so haven't a clue I'm sure someone can find out.
{Ed025's Note - i seen quite a bit of him RON and he was involved in a lot of their better play mate, there is no doubt in my mind that he is a very good player and has plenty of scope to improve...but the money Saints are asking is ridiculous..