Iliman Ndiaye Chooses Manchester City in £65m Deal That Reshapes Premier League Attacking Landscape
Manchester City have completed the £65 million signing of Iliman Ndiaye from Everton, hijacking a move that had placed the Senegal international on the brink of joining Tottenham Hotspur.
The winger has left Goodison Park for the Etihad Stadium in a transfer that concludes one of the defining sagas of the Premier League’s summer window, with City stepping in late after seeing an £80m bid for Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo rejected. Ndiaye has signed a long-term contract with City and spoken publicly about the thinking behind his decision, making clear that his preference was to join the reigning English champions rather than move to north London.
How City Overtook Tottenham in the Race for Ndiaye
Ndiaye, 26, was in advanced talks over a switch from Everton to Tottenham, with Spurs pursuing him as a key wide option after missing out on Gakpo. A framework for a deal was in place and the move had progressed to the point where he was widely expected to become a Tottenham player.
City’s stance shifted when their pursuit of Gakpo stalled. After Liverpool declined to sell the Dutch forward despite a substantial bid, City moved decisively for Ndiaye. They agreed a £65m package with Everton and accelerated personal discussions with the player, effectively removing Spurs from the running.
Everton’s negotiations with Tottenham had also involved Richarlison potentially heading back to Goodison Park. As talks developed, a different solution emerged instead: Jack Grealish leaving City to join Everton on loan, while Ndiaye moved in the opposite direction for a straight fee. That reshaped the dynamics for all three clubs within the final days of the window.
Ndiaye’s Rationale: Choosing Champions League Contention and a Defined Structure
After the move was confirmed, Ndiaye explained that once City made their approach, the choice became clear in his mind. He framed the decision around the opportunity to join a side consistently competing for the Premier League title and the UEFA Champions League, and to work within a highly structured environment under a coach and football department known for detailed planning.
While specific contractual details remain private, Ndiaye has made it plain that the sporting project at City – including the chance to train and play alongside a squad built to dominate possession and attack in numbers – was central to his decision. He also highlighted the appeal of working at a club that has established a clear pathway for wide forwards and attacking midfielders to develop and collect major honours.
Under the Premier League’s regulatory framework, the move required full approval of the player registration, financial documentation and squad naming rules before the deadline. City’s ability to coordinate Ndiaye’s arrival with Grealish’s loan departure underlines how carefully top clubs manage wage structures and squad quotas within that system.
Impact on Manchester City’s Squad and Tactical Options
Ndiaye arrives at City as a direct-response signing in a summer of significant turnover in the club’s wide attacking positions. With departures and loans affecting players such as Omar Marmoush, Sávio and Grealish, City needed a proven Premier League wide option capable of operating both on the wing and in more central attacking spaces.
For head coach Enzo Maresca, Ndiaye’s profile offers:
- A left-sided or right-sided winger who is comfortable receiving in tight areas and driving at defenders.
- An option to play as an attacking midfielder in fluid front-three or 4-3-3 structures.
- Additional rotation for a squad competing on multiple fronts domestically and in Europe.
The move also reflects City’s broader transfer strategy, in which they have been prepared to commit substantial fees to players already adapted to the Premier League, viewing that as a way to minimise transition risk while maintaining the club’s status among Europe’s elite.
What the Transfer Means for Everton
For Everton, losing Ndiaye is a sporting setback offset by significant financial and squad-management benefits. The £65m fee represents a major sale in a single window, at a time when transfer income is an important lever for clubs managing spending under league-wide profitability and sustainability rules.
The structures around the deal – with Grealish moving on loan from City to Goodison Park – give Everton an immediate replacement in the attacking unit. Grealish’s arrival provides a player with extensive experience at the top end of the Premier League and European competition, even though he joins initially on a temporary basis.
From an on-pitch perspective, Everton will need to adapt to the loss of Ndiaye’s direct running and creativity. However, the size of the fee also offers scope to re-balance the squad over multiple windows, whether by converting loans into permanent moves or targeting younger, emerging players to fit into a longer-term rebuild.
Tottenham’s Recalibrated Market Strategy
For Spurs, Ndiaye’s decision to join City rather than complete his expected transfer to north London forced a rapid recalibration of their attacking plans. With their attempts to sign Gakpo unsuccessful and the Ndiaye deal effectively removed from the table once the player committed to City, Tottenham turned their attention to other wide forwards and accelerated interest in alternatives such as Mykhailo Mudryk.
This sequence illustrates a recurring pattern at the top of the Premier League market: when rival clubs target similar profiles in the same window, late movement by one can reshape not just a single transfer but the entire approach of others in the same competitive tier. Tottenham’s need to strengthen in wide areas remains pressing, and their response to missing out on Ndiaye will help define their attacking depth for the season ahead.
Competitive and Commercial Significance
Ndiaye’s move underlines how top-end Premier League recruitment operates at the intersection of performance, finance and regulation.
On the pitch, his arrival deepens City’s attacking rotation for a campaign that spans league matches, domestic cups and the Champions League, all governed in Europe by UEFA’s competition and squad-list rules. The ability to add another high-level winger gives City more protection against form swings and fixture congestion.
Commercially and structurally, the transfer continues a trend of major outlays on attacking players within the English top flight. The fee reinforces Everton’s position as a significant seller in a window that sees them reorganising both salary commitments and squad hierarchy, while also reflecting the premium attached to established Premier League forwards in their mid-20s.
The episode also highlights how quickly club strategies must pivot in a tightly regulated market. City’s shift from Gakpo to Ndiaye, Everton’s adjustment from a player-plus-cash concept with Tottenham to a straight sale plus a high-profile loan, and Spurs’ immediate move toward alternative targets all occurred in a narrow period before the deadline, with regulatory sign-offs and documentation deadlines leaving limited margin for delay.
A Defining Test for Ndiaye at the Elite Level
For Ndiaye himself, the transfer marks a decisive step into the highest competitive bracket of European club football. Having previously established himself as a key figure at Everton, he now enters a City squad where competition for minutes is among the fiercest in the game.
His performances in the months ahead will not only shape how this £65m move is judged but also influence how clubs assess similar profiles in future windows. If he adapts quickly to City’s demands, his trajectory could become a template for Premier League attackers progressing from mid-table environments into title-chasing squads.
What began as a near-certain move to Tottenham has ended with Ndiaye in sky blue, illustrating once again how a single late decision at the top of the market can ripple through multiple clubs’ plans – and potentially alter the balance of power in a season that has not yet begun in earnest.