Southampton are laughing to the bank right now thanks to Everton - they also have Tyler Dibling 2.0 already | OneFootball

Southampton replaced Tyler Dibling with Leo Scienza this summer in what looks to be a sensational piece of business

Southampton sold 19-year-old winger Tyler Dibling to Everton this summer for a potential £40 million, after the youngster made it clear he wanted to pursue a move back to the Premier League.

However, Saints fans won't care too much, as they have seemingly already found a more than viable replacement in the summer transfer window earlier this year.

Like both other sides who were relegated from the Premier League last season, Southampton's campaign hasn't exactly gone the way that they would have hoped.

Former Reims and Lens boss Will Still was appointed as the club's head coach over the summer, with the Belgium-born Englishman taking up his first role in senior English football with Southampton.

However, after just 16 games in charge and a 25 per cent win rate, Still was dismissed from his role, with Saints under-21's boss Tonda Eckert taking over duties on an interim basis, though it looks likely that the German may be appointed permanently after a string of positive results despite their most recent defeat away to Millwall.

Four wins on the spin prior to defeat away to the Lions have seen Southampton rise to 14th in the Championship table, just five points off the play-off places.

The Saints raked in over £100 million of sales this summer, including the departures of the likes of Mateus Fernandes, Kamaldeen Sulemana, Jan Bednarek, and Samuel Amo-Ameyaw.

However, probably their most high-profile sale was the one of Tyler Dibling, who joined Everton in a deal worth a potential £40 million this summer on a four-year contract.

It looked like a big blow for Southampton, who were losing one of their key players, but as it has panned out so far, they will be laughing to the bank.

Southampton sold Tyler Dibling to Everton for £40 million this summer, but he has barely featured for the Toffees

Following his big-money move back to the Premier League with Everton, it was expected that Dibling would continue much of where he left off and light up the Toffees' new Hill Dickinson Stadium. Though so far, that has not happened.

Despite the England youth international featuring prominently for Southampton in the Premier League last season, making 33 top-flight appearances and being their bright spark in what was a dismal season on the South Coast, Dibling have barely featured since his switch to Merseyside.

He has notched up just five appearances in the top flight so far, playing just 72 minutes, unable to force his way into David Moyes' side thus far despite his obvious ability and potential.

In fairness to Dibling, he has had to compete with former Sheffield United star Iliman Ndiaye for a place on the right side of their attack, so it is therefore unsurprising that he has appeared so little.

However, just 72 minutes of league football in 14 available matches is well below the expectations that many would have had for Dibling, and although he is still a teenager, and it's early days, it looks like Southampton sold at the correct time.

Southampton signed Leo Scienza as a replacement for Tyler Dibling, in what looks to be an inspired piece of business

Despite their over £100 million worth of player sales this summer, Southampton spent around just shy of £50 million of that on the likes of Casper Jander, Finn Azaz, Tom Fellows, and also Brazilian winger Leo Scienza.

Scienza, who was born in Brazil and is of Luxembourgian descent, has had a unique career on his way to St Mary's.

The 27-year-old attacker started his career in his native Brazil, spending time in various youth academies as well as Defensor Sporting in Uruguay before making the move to Europe with fifth-tier Swedish side Fanna in 2019.

His talent was clear in just one season with the club, and he would move to Germany with Schalke the following season, spending time in the club's second team, before spells with Magdeburg, SSV Ulm, and Heidenheim, before landing on the South Coast this summer for around €10 million (£8.6 million).

Although the Brazilian has scored just twice and assisted once in 12 Championship appearances, his talent is obvious to see, and he has been running recent matches from both a left-wing position and as a number 10 too, and with Dibling more often than not featuring off the right, Scienza isn't a direct replacement for the teenager, but he's replaced his creativity.

And if he can live up to the expectation that the club have for him, Saints fans will have no reason to reminisce about Dibling if their replacement proves to be a better deal - no doubt the academy graduate has potential in the Premier League, but there's only one player out of the two that's really making an impact at their club.