18 year old talent makes impressive debut against Man U after being on Chelsea’s books | OneFootball

For those of us sitting at home enjoying the return of football after the international break, waiting for Chelsea to play, an 8pm kick off is a real bore.

It’s so late! Luckily there’s a lot of action in between to keep us interested, with Chelsea players past and present in action. In the Premier League’s early kick-off, keen Blues fans will have noticed a (sort of) former Blue playing for Southampton as they took on Manchester United.

Tyler Dibling made his Premier League full debut after some impressive youth performances and a gradual introduction to the first team last season. With his socks rolled down and his elegant style attacking from the right, he certainly turned heads. Midway through the first half, the 18 year old beat the experienced Diogo Dalot for pace and won a penalty from the panicking Portuguese. In the end, Andre Onana saved the spot kick and the game turned in Man United’s favour. But Dibling had made his impression.

Dibling’s brief Chelsea spell

In early 2022, Dibling was 16 and gaining a huge amount of attention from top teams. Chelsea won the race to sign him, securing him on a precontract that would see him turn pro on his 17th birthday in 2023.

But after spending that summer with his new team, Dibling immediately felt uncomfortable, and “lost in the crowd” of Chelsea’s exceptional academy setup. He returned to Southampton after just a couple of months, and it’s proved a smart decision. He’s made it to their first team – at Chelsea, he would only have been buried deeper under the avalanche of signings that continued to stream in after his departure.

Today we heard Ruben Loftus-Cheek say he wishes he had left Chelsea for regular football earlier. Dibling is lucky to have dodged the same fate, and will be happy he made the call when he did.