Whatever happens in the future, Iliman Ndiaye has already written himself a unique chapter in the Everton history books, but he risks tarnishing his reputation and throwing away the good will of the Blues supporters who have backed him for the past two years if he chases money over passion with a move to Al Hilal.
Having netted Everton’s last goal at Goodison Park – the final two in fact, against Southampton – he had followed that up by registering their first in a competitive match at Hill Dickinson Stadium against Brighton & Hove Albion. Afterwards, this correspondent reminded Ndiaye that his infant daughter Ayla had predicted he would write himself into history on this landmark occasion when he first signed for the club in July 2024 and he dedicated the goal to her.
He replied: “Yeah, it means a lot. Obviously when you play football you want to create history, so it felt good.
“The question was asked to me about ‘who’s going to score the first goal at the new stadium?’ and my daughter just said ‘Dada’ so that goal was for her. It was amazing.”
Reports elsewhere in the media are saying that Ndiaye – who has rejected several generous new contract offers from Everton this year – has agreed terms with Al Hilal but at the same time these claims were being made, the Blues had still not received an approach for a player who has three years remaining on his current deal.
The club insists they haven’t even put a valuation on the wide man because he is not for sale and their stance remains unchanged from David Moyes’ declaration in April when the manager told journalists: “He is the last person I would consider selling.”
With his dribbling skills, the winger is one of the most exciting players the Blues have enjoyed watching in many years, with an ability to get fans up out of their seats.
His twinkling toes are such that he inspired a popular terrace anthem.
“I am in love, I can’t deny, our number 10 his name is Iliman Ndiaye; From Senegal to Bramley-Moore, he’s f***ing magic he’s the one that we adore. Ole, Ole; Ole, Ola…”
Despite coming on just the second weekend of the campaign, the aforementioned chat on that landmark day against the Seagulls was the last time Ndiaye was put forward for a post-match talk with the ECHO last season. From that point onwards, he seemingly let his football do the talking.
However, the man who, alongside Idrissa Gueye, was given a hero’s welcome on coming back (seemingly) triumphant from the Africa Cup of Nations – we’ll have to wait and see how that appeal pans out – spent the build-up to the World Cup talking to other media outlets about his future.
Everton launched his Premier League career after he flopped in Ligue 1, but Ndiaye told France Football: “I’m certain the story isn’t over at all with Marseille,” and declared to SPORTbible: “I want to be playing in Europe, in the Champions League,” while also making thinly veiled digs at the Blues’ displays.
There’s a right way and a wrong way of doing such candid critiques of the team. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye were a couple of star performers who both struggled with their form during the run-in.
The £25million purchase from Chelsea found the right tone with his Instagram post that read: “Awful end to the season after a promising campaign, miles off it to be honest.
“A long summer now to review and come back bigger and better next year. Thanks for all the love in my first season here.”
Contrast that with Ndiaye’s: “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.
“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.”
While there’s nothing wrong with being ambitious – all footballers would like to play in the Champions League of course – there seems to be something of a lack of personal accountability within Ndiaye’s words.
If he’d taken some of those gilt-edged chances he’d been presented with against Manchester City and Crystal Palace in the final month of the campaign then he could well have been playing in continental competition with Everton, rather than what seems to be an attempt to frame himself in the shop window.
A year ago, when covering the Blues at the Premier League Summer Series, I was in the room at the Men in Blazers’ event at the Racket on Manhattan’s West 16th Street when he seemed to feed off the New York crowd’s energy and joined in with a rendition of his song. There would be none of that in the desert kingdom which, for now, has taken China’s place as football’s current gravy train destination for mercenaries.
While Evertonians could begrudgingly accept a genuine attempt from a player to better themselves by moving to a team competing in UEFA’s leading club competition, nobody grows up with aspirations of turning out in the Saudi Pro League. You can’t blame Ndiaye’s compatriot Gueye, who turns 37 in a few weeks’ time, for chasing one last lucrative payday before he hangs up his boots, but at 26, Ndiaye is at the peak of his powers and any such move would be wasting the best years of his career.
Everton are a club who have competed for the most seasons in the toughest domestic division in world football almost continuously since the professional game’s infancy. Despite sharing a city with a local rival who has won 20 domestic titles and six European Cups and enduring the longest silverware drought in their history, the Blues are being watched by their biggest ever regular crowds with an average of 52,121, eclipsing their previous best of 51,603 set in the 1962/63 League Championship-winning campaign.
The average gate for a Saudi Pro League match for 2025/26 was a mere 7,736, around half the capacity of the South Stand at Hill Dickinson Stadium and one game between Al Riyadh and Al Khaleej on Valentine’s Day this year attracted just 193 spectators. If you ever watch any of those often-tame affairs, many of those who have bothered to turn up look distinctly disinterested in a competition that while high in wealth, remains distinctly low in quality.
If you look at the cold hard numbers, selling a player you bought for £15million two years ago for potentially £70million looks like a shrewd piece of business and some Evertonians might appreciate the opportunity to make such a handsome profit without selling one of your star players to a direct rival. But other than the bean counters, nobody else would seemingly benefit from such a move.
Having spent time in Boreham Wood’s youth academy and made his professional breakthrough at Hyde United – where former manager David McGurk told the ECHO they had to change the rules in training because “we thought he’s so good he’s taking the p*** out of us!,” Ndiaye has worked his way up from the bottom.
But from a football point of view, he has much more to lose than any financial gain such a transfer would bring. While the usual excuses of ‘securing your family’s future’ get trotted out on such occasions for players who are already millionaires, loyal but long-suffering Blues could be forgiven for feeling let down by Ndiaye if he was to pursue such a move, especially after what he’s already said this summer.