Iliman Ndiaye joins Manchester City from Everton in deal worth up to £65m
Iliman Ndiaye has signed for Manchester City from Everton at the Etihad Stadium on transfer deadline day in a deal worth up to £65m. The 26-year-old Senegal winger has agreed a five-year contract with the club.
The fee is structured at £60m plus a further £5m in add-ons, and the move comes a little over six years after Ndiaye made his professional debut in the seventh tier of English football. "I've worked my whole life for an opportunity like this," said Ndiaye. "City are one of the best clubs in the world and I've seen them win everything as I've grown up. To be able to write my own chapter in a story that special is the chance of a lifetime and I'm determined to grab it with both hands."
Ndiaye's early pathway began as a 19-year-old in London in the youth ranks of Boreham Wood while playing Sunday league football, after which he was invited for a one-week trial with Sheffield United. Two trial games led to a signing by the then-Premier League club, but he did not appear for the Blades for another 18 months, spending the second half of the 2019-20 campaign on loan at Hyde United in the Northern Premier Division and making six appearances, "often risking missing the last train back to Sheffield to stay out on the training pitch."
He made his Premier League debut for Sheffield United in March 2021 against Leicester City, and following the Blades' relegation it took around three-and-a-half years before he established himself at the top level. Two seasons in the Championship ended with Ndiaye scoring 14 goals in 43 starts as Sheffield United returned to the Premier League in 2023, after which he was sold to Marseille and subsequently struggled in France before Everton signed him for an initial £16m in July 2024.
At Everton Ndiaye, nicknamed "Skiliman," scored 15 goals and supplied four assists in 67 Premier League appearances for the Toffees. Last season he was responsible for 73 of Everton's 250 completed dribbles, described in the source as the highest share of any Premier League player, and he recorded nine goal contributions in the league, joint third for Everton behind Beto (10) and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (12).
The transfer was preceded by talks between Ndiaye and Saudi club Al-Hilal earlier in the summer, and Tottenham had agreed terms with Everton on Friday night when it appeared Richarlison would move the other way; sources indicated Richarlison failed to agree personal terms, which prevented Spurs from completing the Ndiaye deal. The sale effectively returns to Everton roughly four times the £16m they paid Marseille two years earlier, and has been set against other large Premier League moves this summer such as the sale of Savio to Tottenham for an initial £75m.
City's move for Ndiaye took place on the same day Manchester City agreed a joint-British transfer record fee of £125m for Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez. Ndiaye joins a City squad that this summer has also added Enzo Fernandez, Elliot Anderson, Geronimo Rulli, Ayyoub Bouaddi, Allan Elias, Jeremy Monga and Pierce Charles.
