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Everton players celebrate after scoring a goal | Getty Images
Everton have shown some early promise this season, but how far can one of their players of the season go in the game?
Everton’s starting XI is more than good enough to comfortably finish in the top half of the table this season if luck and injuries are kind.
David Moyes will also want a goalscorer in January with Ivan Toney linked and the Republic of Ireland’s man of the minute Troy Parrott being scouted during this international break. What has gone well for the Toffees boss is that he has a consistent midfield, even if those trusted with leading the line have yet to make any sort of telling contribution.
Iliman Ndiaye tipped for greatness by Everton teammate
With four goals and one assist in 11 games, Iliman Ndiaye has made exactly the sort of contribution that Moyes is looking for from his forwards and has 15 goals in total since signing from Marseille. Jack Grealish has similar numbers from the other flank which makes the need for a regular goalscorer all the more important. The quality is there around them and someone like Toney or Parrott could make a real difference in the final third.
Ndiaye is already a serious contender for Everton’s player of the season with Idrissa Gana Gueye tipping his teammate for lofty individual accolades: "I challenge [Ndiaye] every game, every time we play," revealed Gana to Everton’s media team. "I'm always speaking to him. He's a good boy, he listens a lot and, yeah, I'm like his... grandbrother! I always knew he would be successful here at Everton and, honestly, I don't think he's shown his best yet.
"I train with him every day so I see his quality every day and I can see what he is capable of. He just needs to believe in himself, keep working hard and have high expectations of himself. I told him when he first arrived here that he can be the next African Ballon d'Or winner, because he has the quality, he has the technique, he has the skills and everything. He has a combination I've never seen it before.
"He's a humble guy. A very, very good guy. He's not shy – he likes to play and joke with everyone. Nobody ever has a problem with him because he is humble and always keeps working hard. You see in those videos even from when he was very young how hard he works and it's because he always wants to be better."
Is Ndiaye one of the best wingers in the league?
Moyes always looks for good characters in his players and inherited a good one in Ndiaye, who is now starting to post the sort of numbers that his ability suggested that he is capable of. One of the questions that should be asked when Everton are scouting new players is whether or not they would get into the starting XIs of the teams above them and Ndiaye would, in most of them at least.
He would certainly be capable of contributing in the squad of Arsenal or Man City when some of their rotational options are considered. Mohamed Salah has set the standard for African players in recent years and for all that Ndiaye might not be capable of scoring 30 goals a season, he is more than capable of reaching double figures for both goals and assists for a team that doesn’t have anywhere near the depth of talent that Liverpool has.
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