Champions League ambitions loom large for Iliman Ndiaye | OneFootball

An interview with Iliman Ndiaye has given substance to the perception that he is looking well beyond the basic terms of the new Everton contract he has been offered as he sees his future encompassing a lot more than the limited confines of Hill Dickinson Stadium.

"Everyone's going to be watching the World Cup," he tells SPORTbible. "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."

Talking about his chequered history after he failed to make the grade at Southampton, Tottenham, Chelsea and Crystal Palace, it was a scout from Sheffield United who spotted him playing non-league.

“Did I ever feel like quitting back then? It never crossed my mind," says Ndiaye without hesitation. “Since a young age, I've had so much confidence and belief in my own ability. I've always had these dreams and I always knew that I'd make it to this stage."

“In my opinion, we are going to win the World Cup. If I didn’t think that, then what's the point of going? What's the point of packing your suitcase? I don't want to be a tourist. I’m going there to win it. If I thought differently, then I’d give my place in the team to someone else."

Ndiaye didn't come to England until he was 14.

"France is a big part of my life. I was born there. My family live there. My friends live there. My mum is French, too, so as much as I'm playing for Senegal and I love Senegal, I'm also French.

"A lot of us (the squad) were born in France. We are mostly a squad of French heritage, so it's going to mean everything. We have a strong team. I hope they'll come up against us and be scared."

“As soon as I landed in England, my dad picked me up and said, ‘You're going to a football camp at Manchester United.’ I was only 14 at the time,” he remembers. “My dad has always gone above and beyond for me.

“It wasn't easy. When I first arrived, I only knew one word and it was 'rainbow'. I learned it back in France a long time ago and that's what stuck in my mind.

"My dad knew that I loved football, so as soon as I arrived in England, he made sure I was given opportunities, like the Manchester United football camp. He also filmed all my matches when I was young and posted them on YouTube. I am in this position today because of him.

"I remember my first day at school. I had a PE lesson and we played football. After the session ended, everyone came up to me and started saying, ‘Oh wow, you're good.’ That made it easier to settle."

“I used to train with Reading after school. If you're good, they'll send you to the academy for a six-week trial,"

“A coach who was part of the academy would come to watch us train at times. I remember the first couple of training sessions went well but one day, he came over and gave me some in-game instructions, which included dribbling past my man.

"I thought the training session went well and my dad went over to speak to him. At first, the coach ignored him, so he kept calling over, saying, ‘Let me speak to you, brother.’

"He asked about a trial at Reading and the coach replied, ‘Your son is never going to be a professional footballer. He’s too small.' My dad went crazy. He started telling him, ‘You're talking nonsense. You're going to see him become one of the best in the world.’ We left and never came back.”

Ndiaye signed a first-team contract at Boreham Wood in his second year with the academy. He would go on to make two unused substitute appearances for their first-team before a 6-week trial at Sheffield United in February 2019 changed everything.

“They told me to leave Boreham Wood at that point, so I was always on the lookout for places to play football. I was obsessed. Every day I was playing football. If a team needed a player, I was there."

"It was on camera as well, so in the back of your head, if you do something, it's going to be on YouTube and everyone's going to see it. It also helped me keep fit for when I joined Sheffield United. It was an amazing time."

And talking about last season with Everton, where he is one of the club's most valuable players, he seemed notably less than enthusiastic: “It 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."

“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.”

“When I look back at everything I've done, everything I’ve been through, it is something to be proud of. But it doesn't stop here. You don't stop when you've made it. You want to go further and achieve things.

“Since I was young, I've always had the same dream... to be the best player in the world. I also want to win trophies for my club and country. That's what I play football for. You want to win trophies and make people proud, your family proud, your country proud.

"I don’t want to have any regrets."

Iliman Ndiaye faces France tonight in Senegal's first game of the 2026 World Cup and we will have the Live Forum up and running for the occasion. 

Thanks, Jay... I've had to correct so many bad renditions of his name on here, I think it finally got to me!

I thought he was really offhand about Everton. Probably doesn't appreciate having to always modify how he plays so he doesn't piss off the Supreme Leader, Mr Moyes.

Glad he knocked this 'fatigue' nonsense on its head. But then every player wants to play every minute of every game and then some... so that may not mean much.

Need to walk before you run. I know players want to play CL but at Everton he is afforded a couple of bad performances, still starts every week, will he get that at a CL club ? He could end up lost in massive squad, or just be a bit part impact sub.

The tone suggests he isn't happy, be surprised if he's an Everton player at the start of the season.

Ian Wilkins 4 Posted 16/06/2026 at 14:59:12

He’s obviously one of our better players, but I thought he was flat at end of season, and not as good post AFCON. On form he can play at top level, and you couldn’t blame him for having the ambition to do so. He must be looking around and wondering if Everton have the same level of ambition.

Stu Gre 5 Posted 16/06/2026 at 15:02:16

Hmm, so I'd argue he's more ambitious than "13th is a good season".

It remains to be seen whether he can step up, but the opportunity will not arise any time soon at Everton and I'd love to see his attitude from our manager.

Arrogant yes, but wanting more to go with it.

Mark Ryan 6 Posted 16/06/2026 at 15:05:06

If, and it's a big if. If we can sell him and use the money for some fresh legs in the team then I hope Senegal win the World Cup and he gets the golden boot cos this lad wants away. We have to hope that his value soars during the competition and someone like PSG come knocking because his price needs to be through the roof to feel the benefit of selling him on. I love watching him but he sounds very much like he wants away and so let's hope we get top dollar for him

Garry Martin 7 Posted 16/06/2026 at 15:12:27

I have to say thst his head is truly up his own arse. Very little mention about EFC and the very little he do'es talk about EFC its about team members around him that faltered in the 2nd half of the season. To me, he seems to believe in his own hype. Many players have come and gone with this mentality, also, why did'nt he make it at all the other decent clubs he's played for. Their might be a case that some teams bring out the best in certain players and perhaps EFC brings it out in him and perhaps that is born out by failures at other clubs.

Alan J Thompson 8 Posted 16/06/2026 at 15:13:20

Add this to him delaying a wage rise because he wants to write his own transfer fee that triggers the release clause and you might come to the conclusion that he either wants away or is not very good at this negotiation lark, or has just found out how much Gana is/was getting paid or possibly some of his World Cup teammates.

Andrew Merrick 9 Posted 16/06/2026 at 15:28:33

Sounds unhappily dissatisfied, tell him hes not alone...

Dave Abrahams 10 Posted 16/06/2026 at 15:42:38

I love the confidence he has in himself and his talent, he’s not soft, seen what other players are on and wants the same or more,he said he didn’t play well at the end of the season along with other players, I think we all have our own thoughts why the team only gain 3 points from the last 21.

With the talent he has he deserved a lot more than what he was getting and I didn’t expect him to be here next season, these new owners will be delighted to get a very profit making deal out of him I hope it’s used to get some new players in and I’d love to see at least one of them as good as Ndiaye, he has no affinity to Everton so good luck with your future lad and thanks for the memories— you made quite a few!

Shaun Parker 11 Posted 16/06/2026 at 15:56:25

Every player is replaceable.

If they don’t want to play for this great club, get the best price and ship them out.

No need for sentiment.

Football unfortunately is a business more than ever these days.

John Collins 12 Posted 16/06/2026 at 16:05:26

Dave.

One of the very few sources of entertainment in a bland, soulless season. I don't blame him at all for wanting off. Why would a player of his quality and flair want to play for a scared manager?

Minik Hansen 13 Posted 16/06/2026 at 16:14:33

Something definitely happened during Afcon, it seemed like his head was gone much of the time after that.

With the words coming out of his mouth - Big money? Yes, thank you, and then let's get great players in.

Kevin Molloy 14 Posted 16/06/2026 at 16:27:17

well, he is outta here. We clearly now have an unsettled squad, KDH was saying how awful we were. But nothing from the manager. Just silence. So we need major surgery this year, our probably three best players Grealish Ndaye and Jarrad, could be gone, and there isn't much left if they go. If I was Moyes I'd be thinking long and hard about how the hell this was going to get sorted, not be gassing with Ally McCoist about Denmark v Fiji.