Iliman Ndiaye may not have played as much at the World Cup as he would have liked, but the Everton man has still made an impact
TORONTO, ONTARIO - JUNE 26: Iliman Ndiaye #13 of Senegal celebrates after scoring his team's fifth goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group I match between Senegal and Iraq at Toronto Stadium on June 26, 2026 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Joosep Martinson - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
Everton star Iliman Ndiaye made a huge impact off the bench as Senegal thrashed Iraq at the World Cup (Image: Joosep Martinson - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
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Everton have enough to do this summer without selling one of their best players. And if anyone needed reminding of Iliman Ndiaye's talents, it's taken him just 56 minutes of World Cup action to do that.
Ndiaye, like many of his Everton team-mates, lost form at the worst possible time last season. While frailties at the back were ruthlessly exposed after Jarrad Branthwaite's untimely injury, had the likes of the Senegalese star not misplaced his shooting boots in the run-in, a campaign that promised so much but ultimately ended in disappointment may well have turned out differently.
But let's not kid ourselves: the Blues would be a much poorer team without Ndiaye and any talk of cashing in on his talents this summer are foolish.
Evertonians are frustrated after that dispiriting seven-game winless run to end the season. New signings would help lift the mood, and there has been progress over a move for highly-rated midfielder Hayden Hackney. But selling one of the club's existing players with genuine stardust would have the opposite impact.
Ndiaye's magic seemed to desert him in the latter stages of the Premier League season. But despite being yet to start in the World Cup, that magic appears very much back.
He stepped off the bench to set up Ibrahim Mbaye's consolation in Senegal's 3-1 opening-game loss to a Kylian Mbappe-inspired France and then surprisingly was left unused in the 3-2 loss to Norway, who were led by the two-goal Erling Haaland.
That result threatened Senegal's place in the round of 32 but they secured their passage into the knockout stages after thrashing Iraq 5-0 in their final Group I encounter.
Next up for the Lions of Teranga is a last-32 showdown with Belgium on Wednesday and Ndiaye has done everything in his power to start the tie after his impact off the bench against Iraq.
He became the first player in World Cup history to come on as a substitute to score a goal, assist a goal, have five touches in the opposition box and make five dribbles.
Ndiaye made it two assists in two appearances - only three players: Alexander Isak, Bruno Guimaraes and Michael Olise (three each), have more in the tournament - when setting up reported Everton transfer target Pape Gueye for his second goal of the game before getting in on the act himself with a stunning strike.
It's not bad for a player who has been restricted to less than an hour's football in the World Cup so far and it's a reminder of just how good the £15m signing from Marseille is.
Every player has his price and if and when the Blues do decide to sell, they will make a healthy profit.
The 26-year-old is already in demand. We reported earlier this month that Manchester United are interested while their rivals Manchester City have also been linked.
And Ndiaye did little to dampen the speculation when he said in an interview before the World Cup: “Everyone’s going to be watching the World Cup. It’s definitely a big opportunity for me.
“You don’t know where football will take you next. As I’ve always said, I want to be the best player and to do that, you have to play at the top.
“I want to be playing at the top level. I want to be playing Champions League football.”
And when addressing his season and the end of it in particular, Ndiaye added: “It (the season) has gone okay, personally, I think I could have been better. The start of the season was very good but the second part, not so much.
“I don’t think it’s fatigue. For me, the team has not been at its best.
“At the same time, I don’t think I’ve played enough games. I went to AFCON but actually, I don’t think that’s enough.
“I want to be playing in Europe, in the Champions League, I want to play in all of these games.”
Everton won't be able to provide Ndiaye with that next season and their attempts to tie him down to a new contract have so far proven unsuccessful.
The Athletic exclusively reported that a point of contention in the talks is the addition of an exit clause that could be triggered as early as this summer.
Ndiaye would not be the first ambitious player to request such a clause but it has to be one that works for the Blues, who as it stands, hold the cards given he has three years remaining on his current deal.
Everton's desire is to keep the winger and reward him for the progress he has made in his first two years at the club.
That is the right decision because as we've seen in his brief cameos in North America, the Blues are much better with Ndiaye than without him.