Iliman Ndiaye finished his first season at Everton as the team's top goalscorer and he's already leading the way this season too
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - AUGUST 24: Iliman Ndiaye of Everton celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the Premier League match between Everton and Brighton & Hove Albion at Hill Dickinson Stadium on August 24, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
Iliman Ndiaye created more history when, after netting Everton's final men's first-team goal at Goodison Park, he became the first player to score in a competitive match at Hill Dickinson Stadium
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Iliman Ndiaye has spoken about his new role in the Everton team. The fan favourite made a big impression in his debut campaign with the Blues.
He scored 11 goals in 37 appearances to finish as the club's top scorer in all competitions following his £15m move from Marseille.
Ndiaye has continued where he has left off this season with his ice-cool penalty in the thrilling 2-1 home win over Crystal Palace before the international break taking his tally for the term to three goals, which moved him clear of Beto on two.
But the Senegal international has largely been playing in a new position following the summer arrivals of Jack Grealish and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
Ndiaye made his name at Everton cutting in from the left while he has also spent time in the No.10 role.
But both of those positions are now occupied by his new team-mates, meaning the 25-year-old has been shifted to the right.
“I’m still getting used to it and finding my best ways,” Ndiaye said to the club's official matchday programme.
“The way I’m playing on the left is different from the way I’m playing on the right, but it’s good. I’ve scored two goals playing on the right, coming in at the back post and being alive in there.
“I feel like I can still do more - score more goals, create goals - but I’m still learning the role. It’s new to me because, generally, in the past, I’ve tended to play more off the left or down the middle. I’ve played on the right a few times but not as much. I’ve played on the right for Senegal recently, too.
“I say it a lot - as a forward player, you want to be able to play in those different positions across the line. It’s not necessarily easy because you don’t have the same actions and spaces on one side compared to the other but it’s about getting used to all of that as quickly as possible.
“I’ve been doing a lot of work on it, in training and through analysis sessions with the backroom team.
“I’m working on different situations I’ll find myself in on the right side and trying to get better and better.
“I’m working on my positioning, where and when I can attack space, where I can dribble and things like that. Obviously, the more you work on it, the better you will be.”
With Dewsbury-Hall suspended, Ndiaye started the match against Palace behind lone striker Thierno Barry.
But after a first half in which the visitors dominated, David Moyes rang the changes at the break, which resulted in the Blues' No.10 switching back to the right.
And it was from there that he helped creat Grealish's dramatic winner after he had levelled the scores from the penalty spot.
“Having the new players gives me more freedom and more space in certain situations,” said Ndiaye.
“I know and the team knows that we can hold the ball well, which gives us a different dynamic. We can attack down either side or through the middle and it feels like we have more dangerous players who can make things happen.
“I can also do different things than what I’ve done before. For example, and I was speaking about this with Iddy (Idrissa Gueye) recently, but last season, you would rarely find me at the back post trying to score there but now I have that confidence I can do that and also feel like I have to be in there because something is always going to happen.
“I’ve found myself being in the opposition’s box a lot more and vice versa, when I have the ball, I think Jack has been trying to get in on the other side as well.
“I think the more we play together, the better the understanding will be and the better we’ll get as a team.”
Everton return to action on Saturday when they travel to Manchester City, where Ndiaye scored a superb goal last season to earn a 1-1 draw.
But first up for the former Sheffield United man and his international team-mate Gueye is Senegal's FIFA World Cup qualifier at home to Mauritania on Tuesday.