Everton winger Iliman Ndiaye's future is facing ongoing speculation after he rejected a new deal with interest from Al Hilal
Everton have not placed a valuation on Iliman Ndiaye’s head as they insist he is not for sale despite ongoing speculation over the player’s future.
A report in the Athletic claimed the Blues are expected to ask for a fee similar to the £70million that Barcelona paid Newcastle United for ex-Everton winger Anthony Gordon this summer. However, with the 26-year-old still having three years remaining on his current contract, Hill Dickinson Stadium chiefs are in no mood to part with one of their prize assets and they’re not even discussing figures.
This is in contrast to when Manchester United came calling for Jarrad Branthwaite in 2024. The Red Devils had two bids rejected for the centre-back of £35million plus add-ons and then £45million plus add-ons.
Given the £80million fee that Manchester United paid for Harry Maguire in 2019, the £75million Chelsea paid for Wesley Fofana in 2022 and the £77million Manchester City paid for Josko Gvardiol in 2023, Everton considered Branthwaite to be in the same bracket, especially given the premium for both left-footed defenders and homegrown talent. However, since then, The Friedkin Group have completed their takeover, obtaining all of Farhad Moshiri’s shares and the club is on a much stronger financial footing.
The Blues 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 several new contract offers.
Since then, the Senegal international has given at least a couple of interviews talking about his future and on the eve of his nation’s opening World Cup fixture he spoke to SPORTbible, outlining 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.”
David Moyes addressed the issue of Ndiaye’s future head-on when speaking in his pre-match press conference to preview Everton’s 2-2 draw at Brentford on April 11.
Asked whether the Blues can move on from having to sell their top players amid speculation over top teams casting admiring glances at Ndiaye, the manager said: “He is the last person I would consider selling.
“There are others as well [that I wouldn’t want to sell], but my point is I have no interest in hearing the talk if there is talk out there.
“I don’t think there is any club that is not a selling club at the right value for their player. I am not saying that means he is for sale, I am not, I just think it is a genuine thing where there is a price where people would say: ‘well, we have to do something.’
“But it is getting too hard to build teams and also supporters are looking for a quick return which managers are not getting. So why would we be giving up our better players?”
The ECHO understands that Everton’s stance has not changed since their manager publicly made his position clear and while there is interest from Saudi club Al Hilal, there has been no formal contact as yet.
Players on World Cup duty are given at least three weeks off, but given that Senegal were eliminated from the competition with a 3-2 defeat to Belgium in Seattle at the round of 32 stage back on July 1, Ndiaye is expected back shortly as the Blues now head for the German training camp with fixtures at Hamburg and Stuttgart over the next two Saturdays.
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