Everton pursue another Southampton transfer a year from £40m Tyler Dibling signing

Everton are pursuing Shea Charles signing from Southampton, one year on from spending £40m to sign Tyler Dibling from the Saints.

One year ago, Tyler Dibling’s Premier League links dominated the majority of the Southampton transfer rumour mill. Clubs like Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United were heavily rumoured to target him for their right wing needs following Dibling’s promising 2024/25 campaign.

Although Dibling scored only 4 goals that season across the Premier League and FA Cup, his playmaking and ability to dribble any fullback on his day drew parallels to former Southampton academy graduate Gareth Bale.

And given Southampton’s success in developing young players, nobody wanted to miss out on the Tyler Dibling opportunity. Plus, Southampton billed Dibling as a £100m talent as part of a fear-tactic to drive up his demand further. Ultimately, Everton wrapped the deal for a reported £40m to prize Dibling away from St. Mary’s.

Needless to say, Southampton emerged as the clear winners from Dibling’s sale. The 20-year-old winger ended up with 0 goals, 0 assists and was reduced to a benchwarmer role in his debut Everton season. That said, it’s natural to assume Everton would restrain themselves from signing another Southampton player in the near future.

But no. The Toffees are eyeing another Southampton signing at present.

Everton pursue Shea Charles signing from Southampton

According to The Athletic’s Patrick Boyland, Everton are eyeing a Shea Charles move for the 2026 summer transfer window. The Toffees have a real challenge on their shoulders to replace the ageing Idrissa Gueye.

Moreover, former Saints midfielder Carlos Alcaraz suffered a lengthy injury towards the end of the 2025/26 season, forcing Everton to turn to younger alternatives like Tim Iroegbunam in midfield. Adding Shea Charles to the midfield ranks will thus give Everton boss David Moyes more quality options to pick from.

At one stage, Everton were comfortably cruising to a European football spot for 2026/27 but midfield issues held them back to 13th place. This is another incentive for Everton to target Shea Charles.

Manchester United are the other team likened as Shea Charles’ next destination. However, Man United have already signed Ederson and are prioritising moves for Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali. Hence, Everton can easily beat the Red Devils to Shea Charles transfer if they act fast.

Everton also targeting Middlesbrough midfielder Hayden Hackney

Following Tyler Dibling’s £40m sale, Southampton will definitely look to extract the maximum Shea Charles transfer fee from Everton. A fee in the region of £35m and beyond will be a smart piece of business from Southampton’s point of view.

The best outcome of all will be Shea Charles staying at Southampton and Everton going for Middlesbrough’s Hayden Hackney instead. The report also mentions Hackney as another name on Everton’s midfield shortlist. Next season, Southampton and Middlesbrough will again meet in the Championship and will be firm promotion contenders from the start.

Given the ‘Spygate’ saga surrounding these two clubs, it’s clear that Saints and Boro will be arch rivals going forward. As such, seeing Middlesbrough’s promotion charge weaken with Hackney’s exit and retaining Shea Charles will give Southampton a significant upper hand.

Let’s see how the Shea Charles transfer saga plays out and which midfielder Everton signs in the end.