Former Premier League stars have been having their say on Iliman Ndiaye’s Everton future with Alan Smith backing David Moyes as having “the man-management to get him to stay” and Colin Hendry calling for patience from the player.
An article in The Athletic on June 2 stated that Everton want to hand Ndiaye a new deal on improved wages as a reward for his form since his £15million move from Olympique Marseille in July 2024. But despite having been in talks since the start of the year his camp have rejected “multiple” contract offers for the star, who is “likely” to have a projected transfer value of around the £70million mark.
Since then, Joe Thomas has reported in the ECHO that Ndiaye is among Manchester United’s shortlist of potential summer targets with the Daily Mail claiming that both Arsenal and Manchester City are also among his admirers. However, given the player is under contract until 2029, Everton – who, like manager David Moyes, do not want this transfer to happen – are under no obligation to entertain interest.
Meanwhile, Ndiaye has given at least a couple of interviews talking about his future. In the latest one, with SPORTbible, published last Tuesday, he outlined his aspirations to play Champions League football and when assessing Everton’s season, remarked: “You can speak individually, but when the whole team is not working, you can’t really say this player is fatigued or not doing well.”
Speaking courtesy of BestBettingSites.co.uk, former England international centre-forward Alan Smith, who won a brace of League Championships with Arsenal, plus the FA Cup, League Cup and European Cup-Winners’ Cup, netting 115 goals in 351 games for the Gunners, told the ECHO: “Well, Ndiaye is entitled to want to leave if that’s the case. He’s entitled to run his contract down.
“But Everton have been good for him. I think it’s given him a platform, and he’s used it, not always, but he’s a very exciting player when he’s at it. I thought he might start for Senegal against France, but he came on as a sub.
“If anybody can do the man-management to get him to stay, it’s David Moyes. Whether Ndiaye thinks he’s worth one of the top Champions League clubs, that’s another matter.
“I’m not sure he is at the moment. So, yeah, we’ll watch that space, I think.
“It’s not so much taking responsibility, I think, as maybe sharpening up his finishing. As I said, he’s somebody that loves to get involved, loves to get on the ball.
“Maybe that’s the part of his game that he needs to work on. That finishing could take him to the next level.
“He loves taking on players. He’s very skilful with the ball at his feet but the top players have a clinical nature and are full of goals, so he probably needs to develop that.”
If Everton were to cash in on the 26-year-old – and when Moyes was asked about the prospect in April he told reporters “he is the last person I would consider selling,” – then they could potentially more than quadruple the outlay they made signing the player from Olympique Marseille for £15million in July 2024.
Colin Hendry, who was a mainstay at centre-half in Blackburn Rovers’ Premier League title winners of 1994/95, briefly played under Moyes at Preston North End in March 2002, shortly before he was appointed Everton manager for the first time. Also, speaking courtesy of BestBettingSites.co.uk, he told the ECHO: “David Moyes can’t reprimand the player because he’s playing to his contract.
“So, it’s not a case of reprimanding him or anything like that. But if he doesn’t sign a new contract, then I’m assuming there will be a value put on his head.
“If somebody comes along and values him as much as Everton does, then Moyes and the club will probably get an agreement put in place. But I would think that there would be a price and there would be a certain degree of negotiations going on.
“I get the Champions League thing, and I get playing for a bigger club. But a little bit of patience sometimes as a player doesn’t go amiss.”
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