Stockport County should turn to Everton to solve Lewis Bate issue - Tyler Dibling could help | OneFootball

The Toffees could hold the answer to an early-season injury issue for the Hatters

Stockport County should step up their pursuit of Everton’s Tyler Onyango to solve a squad issue thrown up by the injury to Lewis Bate.

Onyango has been heavily linked with the Hatters throughout the summer, following a successful short-term loan spell with the club last season.

That move has been thrown into some doubt with the young player’s inclusion in David Moyes’ first team at the start of this season, but business at the Hill Dickinson Stadium could make squad places trickier to come by for Onyango.

With a long-term injury sustained by captain Lewis Bate, the Everton product looks the ideal candidate to solve County’s one remaining issue.

Tyler Onyango is highly regarded at Edgeley Park

It is rare that managers are open about transfer moves before they happen, but it seems that talks were so advanced for Onyango, and fellow Toffees youngster Roman Dixon, that Dave Challinor was willing to not-so-subtly reference the pair at the beginning of the window.

According to The Bobble, the pair were being allowed to train with the Hatters while a permanent deal for Onyango and a loan for Roman Dixon were being worked on, with the former even spotted on County’s pre-season trip to Spain on social media.

But The Bobble’s initial report was back in mid-July. With the end of the transfer window fast approaching, it appears that the move may have stalled.

That may well be linked to the fact that the 22-year-old has been included on the bench for the Toffees in their opening games against Leeds United and Brighton & Hove Albion, with Moyes clearly feeling he needs the midfielder as a squad option.

Tyler Dibling may clear the way for Tyler Onyango’s move

The Toffees have just concluded one of their biggest deals of the summer, a £40m package for former Southampton teenager Tyler Dibling.

Given the money involved in the deal and the experience Dibling arrives with, despite his relative youth, it is clear that Dibling will be a regular in Moyes’ squad at a minimum, if not the starting XI.

That means room will have to be made for the 19-year-old, and academy products with little first-team experience, like Onyango, are the natural candidates to create that space.

The Toffees may have been nervous about squad numbers heading into the new season, but with Dibling now onboard, those pressures may have eased, smoothing the path for the County deal all parties are clearly interested in concluding.

Tyler Onyango would replace something lost with Lewis Bate’s injury

It has been confirmed by Challinor that County captain Bate is unlikely to be back until after the New Year, following surgery on an injured meniscus.

The injury occurred before the start of the League One season, and it has predominantly been Owen Moxon filling in for the first few games of the season, to mixed reception.

What is clear is that the Hatters are missing an athletic presence in the middle of the park, with Ollie Norwood taking the other central spot based on his on-ball abilities rather than his physical attributes.

Bate is a non-stop workhorse in midfield, breaking up play, retrieving the ball and quickly finding a way to move it forward – a role it doesn’t quite feel like has been replaced.

On Everton’s official website, Onyango is referred to as: “A skilful, athletic midfielder, [who] reads the game well and boasts impressive stamina.”

He showed flashes of that on loan at Edgeley Park last season, and, in a nutshell, those are precisely the kind of attributes needed to make up for the absence of Bate.

The Hatters have had an incredible window, capturing the likes of Nathan Lowe, Malik Mothersille and Brad Hills, but finally concluding their long-awaited move for Onyango looks like the final piece of the puzzle, especially since the news of Bate’s injury.