On the final day of the summer 2026 Premier League transfer window, 26-year-old Senegalese winger Iliman Ndiaye completed a blockbuster move from Everton to English giants Manchester City, in a deal worth an initial £60 million with a further £5 million in performance-based add-ons that could take the total fee to £65 million. The transfer caps an extraordinary underdog journey for Ndiaye, who made his professional debut just over six years ago competing in the seventh tier of English football. Ndiaye has signed a five-year contract with the reigning top-flight side, and opened up about his gratitude for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“I’ve worked my whole life for an opportunity like this,” Ndiaye said after the move was confirmed. “City are one of the best clubs in the world and I’ve seen them win everything as I’ve grown up. To be able to write my own chapter in a story that special is the chance of a lifetime and I’m determined to grab it with both hands.”
The path to Etihad Stadium was anything but straightforward. Earlier in the summer, Ndiaye held private transfer talks with Saudi Pro League powerhouse Al-Hilal, and as recently as Friday night, London-based Tottenham Hotspur had reached a full transfer agreement with Everton for the winger, with a proposed swap deal that would have seen Brazilian attacker Richarlison move back to his former club Everton. However, sources close to the negotiation confirmed that Richarlison was unable to agree personal terms with Everton, collapsing the swap and leaving Ndiaye’s transfer to Tottenham dead in the water. That opened the door for Manchester City, who moved quickly to seal the deal on deadline day.
Ndiaye’s arrival is City’s second major marquee signing of the day, coming just hours after the club confirmed they had agreed to pay a joint all-time British transfer record £125 million to sign Argentine World Cup-winning midfielder Enzo Fernandez from Chelsea. Ndiaye becomes the club’s eighth senior summer signing, joining Fernandez, Elliot Anderson, Geronimo Rulli, Ayyoub Bouaddi, Allan Elias, Jeremy Monga and Pierce Charles at Etihad Stadium.
Looking back at Ndiaye’s rise to the top of English football, his journey is one of relentless persistence. As a 19-year-old based in London, Ndiaye was in the youth system of non-league side Boreham Wood, playing amateur Sunday league football when he earned a one-week trial with then-Premier League club Sheffield United. Two impressive trial matches were enough to convince the club to sign the raw young talent, but he would not make his first senior appearance for the Blades for another 18 months. Instead, he spent the second half of the 2019-20 season on loan at Hyde United in the Northern Premier League, six divisions below the Premier League, to gain match experience. It was there that he got his first taste of professional football, making six appearances, and often stayed behind on the training ground to work on his game even if it meant risking missing the last train back to Sheffield. “It’s not always been easy in my career,” Ndiaye reflected. “But I always had the belief that I could play for a team challenging for the biggest prizes and now I’m here.”
After returning to Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane ground, Ndiaye made his Premier League debut in March 2021 against Leicester City, but it would take another three and a half years for him to secure a regular place in the top flight after Sheffield United suffered relegation to the Championship. Over two seasons in England’s second tier, Ndiaye emerged as the Blades’ leading attacking threat, scoring 14 goals in 43 starts to spearhead the club’s return to the Premier League in 2023. However, that summer he was sold to French side Marseille.
After a difficult, inconsistent season in Ligue 1, Ndiaye moved back to the Premier League, joining Everton for an initial fee of £16 million in July 2024. He quickly became a fan favourite on Merseyside, earning the affectionate nickname “Skiliman” for his dazzling ball work, and notched 15 goals and four assists across 67 Premier League appearances for the Toffees ahead of this summer’s exit. As part of the Ndiaye deal to City, Manchester City playmaker Jack Grealish has joined Everton on a season-long loan, replacing Ndiaye at Goodison Park.
In an era of ballooning Premier League transfer valuations, the £65 million price tag for Ndiaye has sparked debate over whether the fee represents good value for Manchester City. On one hand, Ndiaye’s raw attacking skill is undeniable: he is lightning quick, notoriously difficult to defend against on the dribble, and his 73 completed dribbles for Everton last season accounted for nearly 30% of the club’s total completed dribbles, the highest share of any player in the entire Premier League. Everton fans have argued that the club sold Ndiaye for less than his market value, pointing to recent comparable deals such as City’s sale of winger Savio to Tottenham for an initial £75 million earlier this summer as evidence they could have demanded more.
On the other hand, the deal hands Everton a massive profit on their initial investment: the club is set to earn four times the £16 million they paid Marseille for Ndiaye just two years ago. Critics of the fee point out that Ndiaye’s underlying attacking numbers are not yet elite by top club standards. Last season, he only ranked joint third for goal contributions among Everton players with nine, behind Beto (10) and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (12). His creativity also lags behind other top wide players: he created 36 chances all season, good for fourth at Everton, 26 fewer than Toffees midfielder James Garner and eight fewer than Grealish, who missed half the season through injury. Across the entire Premier League, 45 players have recorded more goal contributions than Ndiaye’s 19 since he joined Everton two years ago.
Most analysts agree that Ndiaye has the raw talent to thrive in Pep Guardiola (Enzo Maresca)’s attack-focused system at City, surrounded by a higher calibre of teammates than he played with at Everton. Even with the large upfront fee, most agree that the £65 million price tag is far from an unreasonable gamble for a club with City’s resources, given Ndiaye’s proven ability to improve at every step of his extraordinary journey to the top.