Iliman Ndiaye: Analyzing Everton’s Newest Signing
Born in the suburbs of Rouen in France, basked in teenage enthusiasm on the sunny beaches of Dakar, and eventually mastered the art of football in the cages of London and in training camps across some of England’s most reputable football clubs, Iliman Ndiaye’s emergence has not emerged just by chance. After a very brief stint at Olympique de Marseille, the 24-year old Senegal international will be finally getting a chance to impress at the highest level of English football having joined Everton for a fee reported to be around £15 million.
Ndiaye’s arrival at Merseyside is one that will excite Everton fans as the 24-year old joins with a wealth of experience having played football across three different countries and across various levels including at the world cup for his country, Senegal. Ndiaye’s one-year stint just last season at one of his boyhood clubs, Olympique de Marseille also saw him gain the experience of playing European football as he played a key role for the 8th-placed Ligue 1 side that reached the semi-finals of the Europa League.
And of course, Ndiaye is no stranger to English football and the English Premier League in particular as just two seasons ago in 2022/23, he was one of the major protagonists in Sheffield United’s promotion story to the English top flight, same club he made his premier league debut for two seasons earlier.
Ndiaye joined Sheffield United from Boreham Wood in 2019 and had a loan spell at non-league side, Hyde United in 2020 before finally settling into the Blades’ first team in the 2021/22 season when he made 35 appearances in all competitions, scoring seven goals and assisting twice for Paul Heckingbottom’s men and his performaces went up a notch the following season as he soon became one of the most valuable players at Bramall Lane in their promotion campaign, playing in all 46 Championship games and scoring 14 times while providing 11 assists.
The 2022/23 season was the most productive season of Iliman Ndiaye’s career in terms of goal contributions. A total of 52 appearances and 27 G/A in all competitions for Sheffield United from the then 23-year old in just his second full season as a first team player was quite impressive and it was no surprise that Olympique de Marseille came knocking immediately after such an illustrious campaign that also saw the Senegalese forward impress for the Terranga Lions at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
A brilliant assist off the bench in Senegal’s first game against host nation, Qatar had reminded everyone who had followed his trajectory up until that point that Iliman Ndiaye is the next big thing to emerge out of the 2nd tier of English football, same league that has produced some of football’s hottest properties in recent history with the likes of Jamie Vardy, Jude Bellingham, Ollie Watkins, Ivan Toney amongst others all tracing their earlier and developmental days as footballers back to the Championship.
Everton will be relying on Iliman Ndiaye to add some attacking impetus to their forward line next season, and the 24-year old who has played as a centre-forward for the most part of his career is actually different from the conventional number 9 as he offers something that neither Dominic Clavert-Lewin nor Beto would regularly offer the Toffees. Blessed with pace and a mesmerising footwork, Ndiaye’s greatest asset is his ability to dribble his way out of difficult situations and manipulation of the ball in tight spaces.
It is even safe to say the Senegalese is an all round forward as he possesses a skill set that allows him to be able to thrive anywhere in attack. He could either play as a striker, supporting striker, winger on either flanks, or behind the striker as a 10. However, the position we have seen Ndiaye the most is in the central areas either as a centre-forward in a 4-3-3 or a centre-forward in a two man strike partnership. His pace and his quick feet is largely seen as a problem solving tool in attack.
“He does things you can’t coach. He’s so natural, the way he deals with the ball. Beautifully balanced and poised. Iliman told me his Dad played music as they practiced his skills as a kid and you can see it come through in his game. His shoulders rock, almost as if he’s dancing. He goes past defenders, puts them down with his upper-body movements,” Sheffield United first team coach, Jack Lester said of Ndiaye to the Daily Mail when he got called up to the Senegal squad for the FIFA World Cup in 2022.
Lester’s comments further highlights how talented Ndiaye is and how highly he was rated by managers and teammates during his time at Sheffield United. He may not have had the best of seasons statically at Marseille with just three goals and five assists in 30 Ligue 1 appearances consisting of 19 starts, and a solitary goal in 14 Europa League appearances consisting of eight starts, but there is a lot of room for improvement in the young player whose tally might look more underwhelming on a brief reflection on the previous season when he caught the attention of everyone with 15 goals and 12 assists in a total of 52 appearances across all competitions.
At that point, it was somewhat of a consensus that Ndiaye had improved on his end product, an aspect of his game that had suffered up till that point, but after the season he has just had, doubts in the player’s ability could possibly creep in and there might be that temptation to even say say he was probably a one-season wonder that came alive during Sheffield United’s promotion charge.
It is however possible that some factors like new team, new league and the change of environment might have impacted Ndiaye’s performances last season and this places the odds of him performing at Everton even higher. At just the age of 24, returning to the country where it all started for him professionally, Iliman Ndiaye is potentially a very good investment for Everton.
His end product might not be great but he possesses talent that is there for everyone to see. Last season at Olympique de Marseille, no player had more successful dribbles per game than the Senegalese who successfully completed 1.5 dribbles per game with a 59% completion rate. His versatility also potentially solves some attacking problems for Sean Dyche’s team as he could play instead of either Dominic Calvert-Lewin or Beto as the lone striker or even play alongside any of the strikers in a strike partnership like in a 4-4-2 or a 3-5-2.
There’s also the possibility of playing behind the striker as an alternative to the less offensive Abdoulaye Docoure or even as a winger. In my humble opinion, the role of a secondary striker alongside either Beto or Calvert-Lewin will suit Ndiaye more as he probably lacks the physicality to play as a lone striker in the premier league. More so, he’s hardly played as a lone striker throughout his career. Playing off a more natural striker will definitely suit him more just as it did in the 2022/23 season when he played off Billy Sharp to very good effect.
Overall, Iliman Ndiaye is an intriguing signing for Everton, and for a player that nurses an ambition to one day win the Ballon d’Or, it will be interesting to see how he evolves in the coming years. There might be a conundrum lurking though, a conundrum that has affected almost every player with a similar profile as Ndiaye in the modern game, for example, Joao Felix, Kelechi Iheanacho, Kai Havertz and the likes.
The fact that he is best suited to a two-man attack system which was utilised more in the previous eras, and also the fact that he is not an out and out number nine neither is he an actual number 10 nor a winger in the strict sense of the word. After a year in France, he’s back in England and has the opportunity to become a vital cog in Sean Dyche’s Everton.
By: Moses Onyilo Adikwu / @Moe_Adikwu
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / James Gill – Danehouse – Getty Images