Manchester City agrees to £65M deal for Iliman Ndiaye

Manchester City is closing in on a £65 million deal to sign Iliman Ndiaye from Everton, adding a dynamic forward to Enzo Maresca’s squad as the summer transfer window ticks toward its deadline. The fee represents a staggering markup on the roughly £18 million Everton paid Marseille for the Senegalese international back in July 2024.

For those keeping score at home, that’s roughly a 260% increase in valuation in just two years.

From Marseille to Merseyside to Manchester

The 26-year-old arrived at Goodison Park as a talented but relatively affordable acquisition from Ligue 1. Two productive seasons later, he’s become one of the most coveted attackers in English football, with a career tally of 43 goals and 23 assists across his club stints.

Everton reportedly values Ndiaye closer to £80 million, which explains why the negotiations have stretched into the latter stages of the window. City’s £65 million offer sits about 19% below that asking price.

The forward has also established himself as a fixture on the international stage, earning 44 caps for Senegal.

Arsenal and Tottenham were also reportedly circling, which tells you everything about the level of competition City needed to outpace.

Why City needs Ndiaye now

Manchester City’s interest isn’t just about acquiring talent for talent’s sake. The club has seen notable departures from its forward line, with players like Savinho and Omar Marmoush moving on. Maresca apparently sees Ndiaye as someone versatile enough to plug multiple holes at once.

Ndiaye’s calling card is his dribbling ability, and he can operate across multiple forward positions, a flexibility that fits into the fluid attacking systems City has employed under successive managers.

There’s also been speculation about a potential swap scenario involving Jack Grealish heading to Everton as part of the arrangement.

The Premier League’s valuation arms race

For Everton, selling Ndiaye at £65 million still represents a massive profit on a player they acquired for roughly a quarter of that price. The Toffees can reinvest those funds to strengthen other areas of their squad.

City, meanwhile, gets a proven Premier League performer rather than gambling on an unproven import who might need a full season to adjust to the pace and physicality of English football.

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