It's time to secure Iliman Ndiaye's future | OneFootball

Ndiaye has once again proved just how crucial he is to this Everton team

(Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Since The Friedkin Group took charge at Everton, there has been plenty of squad upheaval. Long-serving players such as Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Abdoulaye Doucoure left last summer, while the experienced Ashley Young was not handed a new deal either.

But, while long-standing members of the team left, Everton have been keen to tie down key performers to new deals when required. Idrissa Gana Gueye stayed put, as did Michael Keane, who has proved to be more important than many would have suspected this season.

However, the first big deal done when it came to a new contract was for Jarrad Branthwaite, in early July. That was a statement of intent from Everton.

Under the previous regime, Everton held firm on their valuation of Branthwaite amid interest from Manchester United in 2024. However, the club lacked the financial power to go and secure the defender’s long-term future. That has changed under TFG, and Branthwaite’s new deal signalled it.

Bumper contracts for Jordan Pickford and James Garner have since followed, while James Tarkowski also signed a new deal, even if his circumstances were slightly different.

With Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall having only joined last summer, the vast majority of Everton’s key players — bar, when fit, Jack Grealish — are now on long-term deals.

But one of the Toffees’ star names is seemingly bound to attract interest this summer.

Iliman Ndiaye has once again had another excellent season. While one could argue he should have even more of a consistent impact, given his undoubted quality, he has scored five goals and provided three assists in the Premier League, despite missing the busiest time of the season due to his exploits with Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations.

It took time for Ndiaye to get fully back up to speed after he returned from Afcon but, since that game against Newcastle United at the end of last month, he has been back in top gear.

Playing out on the left — which would likely not have been possible had Grealish not got injured — Ndiaye has once again proved just how crucial he is to this Everton team. His ability to keep hold of possession in tight spaces is second to none, and he is probably the best dribbler in the Premier League.

He is an exceptional finisher, as evidenced by his brilliant highlight reel of goals, and this season he has added a bit more of a creative threat.

Capable of playing on either flank or even through the middle, Ndiaye is exactly the kind of robust, athletic, skilful talent that can thrive at the top level, and it would be no surprise if some vultures are circling this summer.

By then, he will have 3  years left on the contract he signed when he joined from Marseille for just £15M in 2024. It is time, then, for Everton to start to put the feelers out in regard to a new contract.

Now, there is some speculation that Ndiaye’s camp will be keen to explore other opportunities should Everton fail to qualify for Europe, and regardless of a new deal or not, the Toffees are in a position to demand top dollar should that be the case.

Ndiaye has only just turned 26, and is a proven goalscorer in Europe’s toughest league. Offers below £60M should be brushed aside immediately.

But, ideally, Everton — like they have done with Branthwaite and Garner, who are more comparable to Ndiaye in terms of age than Pickford, Tarkowski or Gueye — will look to make a statement.

Whether David Moyes’s men secure European qualification or not, Ndiaye should be seen as a vital piece of the puzzle. He provides the type of flair and entertainment that gets fans on their feet and, in the process, offers Everton the kind of threat that plenty of other teams just don’t have.

A new deal could always include a clause or a loose agreement to reevaluate the situation in a year or so, but Everton must be proactive and show Ndiaye the love and commitment he is worth.

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