Manchester City star talks about answers about return to former club | OneFootball

Iliman Ndiaye Hints at Marseille Return Amid Manchester City Uncertainty

There are moments in football when the noise around a club grows so loud that every passing comment, every sideways glance, every affectionate memory from a player suddenly carries extra weight. That is where Manchester City find themselves now, and that is why Iliman Ndiaye’s words about Marseille will echo far beyond an international break fixture.

The 26-year-old only arrived at the Etihad this summer in a deal worth £65m, a statement signing meant to strengthen City’s attack and add another layer of unpredictability in the final third. In his early appearances he has shown flashes of his quality, even if the numbers have yet to catch up. No goals, no assists, four matches played, and yet enough in his movement and touch to suggest there is more to come.

What changes the mood is the storm around Manchester City. The club have been found guilty on 114 of 115 charges in the Premier League case hanging over them, a judgment that has left the game waiting for the scale of the punishment. Appeals are expected and the fight from City is certain to continue, but the sense of jeopardy is unmistakable. Questions now stretch from boardroom to dressing room, and from legal strategy to squad planning.

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Against that backdrop, Ndiaye’s return to Marseille on international duty felt loaded with significance. At the Stade Vélodrome, where he remains a deeply popular figure, supporters made their feelings clear. They want him back. He responded with words that will delight Marseille and unsettle City in equal measure.

“The shouts from Marseille supporters asking me to come back? It is nice to hear. I don’t think that the story is finished, but we will see. I’m just saying, I never know where it’ll lead me, but we’ll see anyway.

“I only have positive memories of my time at OM [Marseille], and it was a source of pride for me. I don’t miss a single match. It’s my club, and it always will be.”

That is not a transfer request. It is something subtler, and perhaps more dangerous for City. It is an emotional tether left dangling in public. Marseille still matters to him, plainly and deeply, and in football those attachments have a habit of resurfacing when uncertainty takes hold.

Ndiaye’s career has moved quickly, from Sheffield United to Marseille for £20m in 2023, then on to Everton a year later, before City moved for him this summer. Each step has taken him higher, each transfer shaped by ambition. Yet for all the logic of elite movement, some clubs cling to a player. Marseille appears to be that club for Ndiaye.

If Manchester City’s appeal fails, or if the eventual punishment reshapes the club’s immediate future, this may come to be seen as more than a sentimental aside. It may prove an early signal that players are already weighing what comes next.

For now, City wait. So does Ndiaye. So does Marseille. And sometimes in football, three words tell you everything, “we will see”.