David Moyes says Everton’s big-money signing Tyler Dibling needs to offer much more next season after a difficult first year on Merseyside for the 20-year-old.
Dibling signed from Southampton for £42million last summer after a protracted saga but the highly-rated star has managed just one minute since January and a mere four league starts.
With Jack Grealish ruled out for the season in January, Moyes and Co had fancied Dibling to step up but it has not happened yet – and the boss has now challenged him to improve.
‘He’ll have to do better I think,’ said the boss ahead of the Toffees’ home clash against Manchester City on Monday night.
‘He’ll have to do better in his work and in his training. We brought in Tyrique (George, from Chelsea) who is of a similar age and as competition as well to make sure we were covered.
‘I think Tyrique has done well in the moments he’s had in games and shown some bits that we like, so we want Tyler to step up, we really do.’
David Moyes (left) has called on Tyler Dibling to improve after a difficult debut Everton season
Dibling (pictured in action in December) has only played one minute for Everton since January
Dibling had a year at Chelsea in 2022 but returned to Saints after struggling with homesickness. As a young lad, moving to Merseyside could be cited as a reason for him taking longer than hoped to settle.
‘He’s important to us. He’s a player who we put a lot of faith and money into to bring him here so we are looking for a lot more.
‘That’s why we are not panicking about it, because of his age. We want him to step up, we are hoping that he’ll improve and next year will be a big year for him to see if he can do that.’
Another player who is suffering from confidence issues is striker Thierno Barry, who had a hot streak over the festive period but has scored just one goal in his last 11 league outings.
Moyes added: ‘I am saying a general thing here and it is that football supporters are not having much patience with many things. You might not get two or three years to become that player.
‘There is a bigger emphasis on, “We need things now, we are looking for that to happen quickly”. It is not just here at Everton. I think all clubs are the same.
‘He is young as well, first year in the country, at the moment we have four games to go and if he scores a couple of goals you might say it has not been the worst return for a young centre forward.
‘There are a lot of clubs who have paid a lot of money for centre forwards and you wouldn’t say that has been worth it.
‘We took a chance on a young, up-and-coming striker, we tried to get him in quickly and early to see how he was going. He has not done bad. I actually think he is improving as he is going along. First season in the Premier League, it is not that easy.’
Meanwhile, Everton midfielder Harrison Armstrong is in talks over signing a new deal at the club to reward him for a fine breakout campaign where he was recalled from a loan at Preston in January.
