Arsenal set to profit from Southampton firesale as Tyler Dibling theory emerges

Southampton's impending relegation to the Championship is set to spark a mass exodus on the South Coast this summer. While the Saints have slapped an eye-watering £100million valuation on teenage starlet Tyler Dibling, that fanciful figure is unlikely to deter his long list of suitors from submitting offers as there is still strong belief he will be available for a more reasonable price.

Tottenham, Manchester City, Manchester United and Bundesliga side RB Leipzig are among his admirers but Liverpool and Newcastle have also scouted the 19-year-old attacker during his stunning breakthrough campaign. Meanwhile, Napoli are showing interest in Japanese right-back Yukinari Sugawara and Juventus have also watched Mateus Fernandes in recent months.

‌

Striker Paul Onuachu is being lined up for a return to Turkey with former club Trabzonspor still open to re-signing the giant Nigerian. Arsenal also stand to profit if Aaron Ramsdale switches clubs for the second consecutive summer as they negotiated a sell-on clause when the goalkeeper moved to St Mary's last August for an initial £18m fee.

While the Gunners are poised to miss out on potential bonuses that will have been triggered if the Saints secured survival, it would be a major surprise if England international Ramsdale is playing Championship football next season. The winds of change are poised to sweep through Southampton in the forthcoming months with current head coach Ivan Juric expected to depart his role at the end of the season.

Sheffield Wednesday's Danny Rohl and Strasbourg's Liam Rosenior are among the candidates to succeed the Serbian this summer, though prising Rosenior away from the French club will prove difficult as they continue to chase European qualification.

Right-back Kyle Walker-Peters is also set to become a free agent on June 30 and is in line to seal an immediate return to the Premier League despite interest from Galatasaray in January. The Saints will also part company with head of recruitment Darren Mowbray and technical director Johannes Spors is already planning a major overhaul. He recently claimed he expects to conduct plenty of transfer business before the start of the 2025-26 season.

He said: “I think we can do a lot in the window and we have to do a lot. We will be very, very active and I'm really looking forward to that. Bringing talent to this club is absolutely crucial. On the pitch, off the pitch. Off the pitch, I don't mean just head coach. I mean talent in the scouting, recruitment, analytics. We want people that want to grow. We need this energy of development.”