Former Chelsea winger Tyler Dibling has had a better start to life back in Southampton than he did at Stamford Bridge. two years ago.

The 18-year-old was handed his first Premier League start for Southampton in their 3-0 defeat to Manchester United on Saturday. Dibling was in and around the first-team setup during the Saints' promotion campaign last season and made his debut in the win over Sheffield United back in January.

He was handed his first start after previously coming on as a substitute against Newcastle, Nottingham Forest and Brentford. Dibling joined the Saints in 2012, at the age of six, where he spent a year before being picked up by Exeter City.

In 2014 he returned to the club and caught the eye during a Premier League 2 fixture against Newcastle United. He scored a first half hat-trick, netting three identical goals.

His performance at St James' Park went viral and Newcastle were the first club to make their interest known. Under the guidance of former sporting director Dan Ashworth, the Magpies tried to sign Dibling but it was Chelsea who beat them to his signature.

Chelsea are reported to have offered £1.5million for Dibling's services, with the intention that he would sign a professional contract once he turned 17 in March 2023. The Athletic claims he was offered favourable terms which were considerably more than a 16-year-old on a scholarship deal would ordinarily command.

The package offered by Chelsea was lucrative and a lot more than the one offered by Southampton. Upon his move to West London, the winger was involved with England camps at under-16 level and was playing alongside players who had been scouted from all over Britain and beyond.

However, The Athletic say that 'almost immediately', there was a sense Dibling felt lost in the crowd at the Cobham training ground. It's said Dibling felt like 'an outsider' despite being described as someone who is comfortable in another's presence once he becomes familiar to them.

However, he could not settle at Chelsea and this is said to have prevented his true character from emerging. As a result, that is thought to have been the reason he returned to Southampton just two months later.

The youngster made his second and final appearance for Chelsea under-18s on August 27 against his former teammates and the club he would go back a few days later. He re-signed for Southampton on terms significantly lower than what he was at Chelsea.

Speaking about the situation, former Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl told The Athletic: "This is maybe an example of needing to listen a little bit more to what experienced people in the club are telling you. Then you don’t do things that don’t help you in your development as a player.

"This can be a message for some other players also — it is not always the big club that is immediately helping you. Sometimes it’s better to stay in an environment where you feel at home and where everybody does everything for you.

"And I’m sure that you get here a very good development in your game. There’s a reason why in England I think you say the grass is not always greener somewhere else."

You can find this story in   My Bookmarks. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.