Cold, Hard Business — Should Everton Cash in on Iliman Ndiaye?
Reports suggest that Saudi outfit Al-Hilal are interested in signing the Senegal international and while it's never nice to sell your best players, clubs in Everton's position rarely have much choice. The key is what would come next...
Interest from elsewhere in Iliman Ndiaye is something most Evertonians were dreading this summer but, even without the winger making a huge splash at the 2026 World Cup, it was fairly inevitable.
There were times last season where Ndiaye’s talents became unmissable to the wider football world. He may have fallen short of his goals return from his maiden season at Everton, notching six compared with the 11 he scored in all competitions in 2024/25, but he drew plenty of attention for his mesmeric ability on the ball.
In terms of pure skill and trickery, Ndiaye is surely among the most gifted players to play for the Blues in the Premier League era and those talents have attracted plenty of admirers.
Liverpool and Manchester United were mooted as potential suitors but with less than four weeks to go before the new season kicks off, the first tangible move to pry him away from Bramley-Moore Dock appears to have come from the same club that have just signed Crysencio Summerville in a £60m deal.
Al-Hilal have reportedly have contacted Ndiaye’s representatives to sound out a potential switch to Saudi Arabia, putting a sizeable wrinkle in Everton’s summer transfer plans.
At the time of writing, that is as far as things have gone — Everton have yet to field formal contact from the Saudis and, obviously, until they do nothing tangible can happen. Nevertheless, with Ndiaye having spelled out his Champions League ambitions in an interview a few weeks back, one that caused a stir among Blues fans, and the market for forward players of his ilk having become hugely inflated, the pros and cons of cashing in on the former Sheffield United and Marseille man have dominated chatter on social media.
The potential deal does raise a number of questions, not least whether it makes sense for either the player or Everton.
Seeing 26-year-old Ndiaye follow 24-year-old Summerville to the comparative backwater of Middle Eastern football feels like a waste. Yet, playing in Saudi Arabia for a year two does give the players an opportunity to earn an ungodly amount of money, tax-free, before they try and secure a move back to Europe and Champions League football just as they are hitting the peaks of their respective careers.
For Everton, who have been trying, unsuccessfully, in recent months to tie Ndiaye down to a more lucrative extended contract, the draw will be in the size of the potential transfer fee the Senegal international could command.
If you canvassed the Everton fanbase, though, you’d probably get a broad consensus that our club should no longer be in the business of selling our best players. PSR constraints and the frustrations of the Farhad Moshiri era, where a general failure to progress gave way to financial chaos, meant that in recent years the Toffees have often had no choice.
Romelu Lukaku used Goodison Park as a stepping stone, first to Old Trafford and then to the San Siro and Stadio Maradona, once it became clear his ambitions weren’t likely to be realised with Everton; Manchester City’s offer for John Stones was too good to turn down; while the combined £100m or so that Everton received for Richarlison and Anthony Gordon were vital in keeping the lights on.
Ever since the chickens of Moshiri’s largesse between 2016 and 2020 came home to roost, Everton have, necessarily, been a selling club. The fervent hope was that, under The Friedkin Group, those days were over.
Yet a remark made by David Moyes at the end of last season, where he suggested that it might behoove the Blues to behave a bit more like the likes of Bournemouth, Brighton and Brentford — three clubs who have become the poster children for smart business, sound recruitment and a savvy transfer policy of buying cheap and selling players for big profits — encapsulated where we currently are.
Everton are, unquestionably, a huge club but one which has under-performed for so long that our commercial performance lags well behind our former peers that now make up the so-called “big six”. Under the new Squad Cost Ratio framework that has now replaced the controversial Profitability and Sustainability Rules, even if TFG were moved to do so (the jury is out on that score) the Blues simply aren’t able to to spend hundreds of millions on players each year.
This summer’s business to date is testament to that. With €20m already committed to SC Freiburg for Merlin Röhl, Everton’s transfer committee and head of player trading, Nick Hammond, have patiently negotiated favourable deals for Hayden Hackney and Tyrique George which took the outlay so far to roughly £53m. A deal for Jack Grealish, either on loan or a permanent basis, also remains a desired goal before the deadline.
A move for their rumoured top target at right-back, Guéla Doué, meanwhile, remains on the back-burner because of Strasbourg’s initial valuation, with the Blues opting not to overpay so as to make the 2026 transfer budget stretch as far as possible.
In that context, the potential sale of Ndiaye, with a fee of £70m not out of the question given the crazy nature of the current market, is sound business. The massive profit they would make on the £15m acquisition from Ligue 1 could allow the club to address a number of areas of need in the squad where they might otherwise either need to prioritise certain positions.
The manager and the committee are known to be looking for a defensive midfielder and would be in the market for a second right-back and left-back cover as well, if possible. It’s conceivable, meanwhile, that should Hackney enjoy a full, injury-free season that based, on his form for Middlesbrough, he could replace Ndiaye’s goals and surpass the Senegalese’s assists contribution from last season allowing Iliman’s departure to open up funds to acquire a true goal-scoring winger who is capable of playing across the front line to boost the team’s effectiveness in the final third.
The key, quite evidently, will be if and how the club replaces someone of enjoys ability and entertainment factor but things are rarely as straightforward as that at Everton — at least, they often haven’t been. Just because a player has been sold, it hasn’t always followed that the entire transfer fee would then be available to spend on replacements. In theory, under TFG, it should be but Blues fans are all too scarred from the years when it wasn’t and they can be forgiven for being sceptical as question marks over the extent of the new owners’ ambitions continue to linger.
Despite the ownership's decent track record with the £180m-odd they've already spent on players at Everton, therein lies the concern, even for those who agree that the club still needs to be operating on a footing of buying low, selling for big profits and repeating the cycle all while hoping the current restructuring of the Finch Farm academy also bears fruit.
When he’s in the mood and on fire, Ndiaye is almost unplayable. No wonder, then, that he is a fan favourite with his own terrace chant. He has scored some wonderful goals for Everton, and lit up an otherwise functional team under two less-than-dynamic managerial tenures.
There is a strong argument to be made that with a natural, overlapping full-back behind him, he’s have been even better but memories of his alarming drop off at the end of last season are difficult to shake. Did his iffy form betray a wandering eye, fatigue following the Africa Cup of Nations, or a desire, subconscious or otherwise, to keep himself fresh for Senegal’s World Cup campaign? Or was, as his public comments hint, he frustrated playing in a team that “wasn’t working” by the tail end of 2025/26? Whatever the reason, the bond between club and player appears to have loosened.
No one wants to lose their best players, but, again, the cold truth is that Everton remain a selling club (in the same way that Aston Villa had just sold one of their key players to Chelsea for a massive fee) and there are times when pulling in the biggest fee possible for a player who has shown hesitation in committing their future to the Blues and moving on is the best course of action in what is a cut-throat business.
Reader Responses
Selected thoughts from readers28/07/2026 07:39:05
The ideal is that we have seven or eight players of his standard at any one time. Selling one or two, then replacing them with cultivated talent makes the sale easy to swallow
We are far from this ideal at present. We are a stepping stone for out of favour yet talented players, young talent, and rough gems. We've been such a mess of a club there is no reason for these players to stay once their career has improved.
Offering European football in August may have made a difference to N'Diaye. But we screwed that up royally last season. Until we have more to offer, and thst includes a progressive manager with a style of play that suits quality players, we will stay in the cycle we are in with these players.
To answer Lyndon's question, zi would sell. If he doesn't want to be here, and the money can be invested in improving the squad overall, then do it.
28/07/2026 09:19:09
I'm fairly ambivalent about this.
Ndiaye has had a strange career from French and Senegalese youth teams to non-league to where he is now. He hasn't stayed anywhere for more than a few seasons.
He's on about £45k per week at Everton and, if Summerville's wage is anything to go by, he'll be on about £245k per week at Al Hilal. Also, Al Hilal and Saudi football is really not a backwater. He'd be joining Bono (the Morocco GK), Koulibaly, Theo Hernandez, Joao Cancealo, Ruben Neves, Milinkovic-Savic, Summerville, Malcom, Darwin Nunez, and a few top u21 talents from France and Türkiye. This is a good team in a high quality league that is ever improving in standard.
I can see why he'd want to go and, no, the prospect of Europa Conference League football would not have made any difference whatsoever. Champions League and the wage that goes with it maybe - but not the competition to find Europe's best most mediocre team.
For us, it would seem to give us about £60 to £70m (or possibly more) to add to our transfer kitty. That's a game changer in terms of our own spending power. Lovely player on his day, but at age 26 his price tag will never be higher and we appear to already have his replacement in George (and maybe Grealish on loan).
Once our revenue position improves in a season or two (allowing for bigger wages) we'll be better placed to keep players like this (if we want to) but at the moment it makes sense to cash in and improve the squad overall with 2 or even 3 players for the money we get.
28/07/2026 09:35:01
For a club like Everton, which is carefully managing its budget, this type of "smart sale" is exactly what allows for sustainable squad rebuilding under the new SCR regulations.
If Everton got the reported £75 million, this would increase the transfer budget over three years by approx £20million.per year allowing the signing of multi players.Most players are bought on a % of the transfer fee, with the balance paid later.
But it is essential for this to work that players brought in are properly developed, which is questionable regarding last season.This is the only way Everton can progress forward, with real returns on player valuations based on pitch appearances, and of course performance.
28/07/2026 10:11:43
I think it’s pretty clear that he his going to leave so get as much as we possibly can, move on and hopefully spend the money as wisely as possible.
I was reading something that Mike G, has put on Toffeeweb, using an article from the Athletic, which was all about Merlin Rohl.
They are talking about Rohl, playing fullback, but maybe Moyes, has played him in that position, to make him more aware of what is required if he signs an adventurous fullback, to play behind him?
Just my own view but I think Rohl, has done more than enough to convince Moyes, that he can do a good job playing wide right which means he might already have a replacement for N’Diaye, (a replacement that suits our current manager’s style) at the club.
28/07/2026 10:38:02
I'd be disappointed if we just re-purpose a (good) utility player like Rohl, Antony.
Hopefully we'll bring in a specialist replacement of quality - and already seem to be heavily linked with Jonathan Rowe of Bologna in that regard. He's now had two good seasons overseas after leaving Norwich - and performed really well in the Europa League.
Interestingly, the likes of Norton-Cuffey, Harwood-Bellis, Rowe and Delap who we are linked with will all know each other well from a successful England U21s side. Maybe Lee Carsley is putting in a good word...
28/07/2026 11:09:50
Cash in now!
I’m a huge admirer of Ndiaye, I like the way he plays the game and he’s work rate but I think it’s good business for everyone involved, his heart I feel isn’t in it anymore and we can get a good fee. Is 70 million enough? I don’t think so, I think in today’s climate he should be going for 90m. Hopefully this can kickstart a flourish of incomings because as of now the window has been a non starter really, still no solutions to long standing problems. Please Everton do the logical thing for once and go buy for the right areas.
My fingers are tightly crossed!
28/07/2026 11:36:26
Even if Everton did allow him to leave there’s no guarantee that all the money received would be ploughed back into squad strengthening.
TFG’s desire to improve the competitiveness of the Everton squad seems to be lukewarm at best.They are international business men first and foremost!
My gut feeling would be to let him go for the highest bid and move on,hoping we get enough to plough back into the squad to fill the positions we really need.
A talented player,but if his heart and his head are not in Everton,cash in and look elsewhere
28/07/2026 11:43:12
Sell.
Winds me up no end Ndiaye sounding off about playing in Europe when he is one of the main reasons that we are not!
He completely went missing end of last season, saving himself for his national team, and that after he had already been off for AfCon earlier in the year.
Get as much for him as we can and replace with someone who chooses completely the wrong option less often than he does when on the break.
It will also say a lot about him if he chooses the riches of that storied football club Al-Hilal rather than the promised land of The Champions League (TM) that he so publicly courted.
28/07/2026 12:42:37
He is capable of the unexpected, flashes of brilliance rather than consistently performing at a high level. When he is in the groove he is unplayable, but one game in three or more does not make him anything more than a passenger with a first class ticket. Our manager wants second class ticket holders who will perform week in week out, yes not capable of brilliance but consistent effort.
A luxury whose head has been turned, who appears to have lost belief in the manager and club. No player is bigger than the team so get the top dollar and use it wisely.
28/07/2026 13:11:42
It's easy to be convinced by an argument that suggests selling on one player at a big profit makes sense if this makes money available to bring in two or three lower priced additions. Trouble is it seems to me that based on last summers recruitment we only purchased one player, Dewsbury Hall, who was first team ready. I am also not sure if the Manager and the Recruitment team are on the same page.
So any comparison with teams like Bournemouth are in my view wide of the mark. Regrettably this sort of situation will hamper our pre season preparations, which so far seem less than perfect. So it's not good news for me, and I remain concerned that we will be able to show any improvement on last season.
28/07/2026 14:05:24
David, you're right there's a risk with all of this stuff - but you can manage down that risk with the profile of player you buy. Equally there is a big risk of keeping Ndiaye if he's not arsed and would much prefer to play in Saudi.
I know this sort of line up hasn't stirred up the sort of excitement you get with (typically idiotic) vanity signings that everyone has heard of - but the profile of player we are most strongly linked with would improve us materially (importantly not just the First XI but also the Second string which has often been abysmal for as long I can remember) - allowing for something like this:
First XI
Pickford
Norton-Cuffey (Genoa)
Diouf (West Ham)
Branthwaite
Harwood-Bellis (Saints)
Garner
Hackney (Boro)
Dewsbury-Hall
Rowe (Bologna)
Grealish (City - Loan)
Delap (Chelsea - Loan)
Second XI
Travers
O'Brien
Mykolenko
Tarkowski
Keane
Gueye (Villareal)
Armstrong
Rohl
Dibling
George (Chelsea)
Barry
Something like that gives us a group of strong players already - much more athleticism, pace and quality - and of an age profile that allows us to build around a core group of improving players. This is just an illustration too, of course, you can swap in various players in out and its the same sort of outcome.
28/07/2026 15:04:06
If we sell Ndiaye for £70 million plus after buying him for £15 millon, then this our new operating model in action and working well.
28/07/2026 15:19:10
Steve, spot on. As much as a lot of people would like us to spend money we simply do not have (yet) on unattainable targets, it is simply no longer possible to spend your way to success.
Other clubs have successfully followed the model of buy low / sell high, and will be competing in Europe next season.
28/07/2026 16:02:51
Sell him.
As others have stated above, he’s a luxury player, especially in a Moyes team, so if we get the chance to get a big fee then let’s take it and re-invest
28/07/2026 17:15:30
A very straightforward article Lyndon with, I have to say, very sensible responses so far. Quite surprising responses that I didn't expect given that he is/was a fan favourite. He has obviously has got wanderlust for whatever reason. Only he knows the reason.
I have thought, and he is no different to any other of our players, that if an offer we can't refuse is made then we take it. No ifs or buts. The fact that his magical form has evaperated I think shows us that to keep any player who wants to leave, should not be held to a contract if a suitable bid is made because we are unlikely to persuade that player to give his best for us in the future. A long contract gives us more power when we are negotiating price.
So sorry to see him go if that is what happens but it is best for all concerned particularly if it means we are able to further strengthen the side without SCR implications.
No hesitation, just do it!
28/07/2026 17:28:32
Robert at 13, your first XI, and second XI seem completely unrealistic options to me. In your first team you have 5 new signings, and two loan signings, and in your second XI you have three players who we bought last season and another who we have just signed. But what I think you correctly indicate that our recruitment is at best confused and at worst a mess.
I have high hopes for young Armstrong, and think he could be a top player, but I am not sure just what David Moyes is trying to achieve, as he and his team looked clueless at the end of last season, and this looks the way we will start this season. If we don't get a right back soon, and play O'Brien in his true position I give up. I think we have also still to appoint a captain, but I might just have missed that.
28/07/2026 17:34:46
My favorite current player, but he wants out and we will never get as much for him as now.
The trick now is to get as much for him as we can, and then use it as well as possible in squad investment.
He will be greatly missed, his non-performance in the Sunderland match (along with many others) shows what a fully functioning player we will lose. Too much is made of his goals and assists, his other stats in the final third rank him among the finest in the league.
If a deal is agreed and we get top dollar, I hope we are immediately agreeing a price for a top dollar Right-Back.
28/07/2026 20:28:50
If the offer is in the region of
£75m it makes absolute sense to sell. That’s assuming our recruitment team have mapped out a way of using the proceeds to improve the squad as a whole.
While our revenue is growing it remains closer to Fulham, Brighton and Bournemouth than the likes of Arsenal, the Manchester clubs and our neighbours.
Therefore, as others have said, our approach in the short to medium term must be to emulate their success in buying potential and selling at a premium when that potential is realised. Expertise in managing sales will be a huge part of the club’s future strategy.
28/07/2026 21:43:36
i'm afraid that if a premier league player wants to move it usually happens so if the price is right 70 mill.we have to sell.
i do share david bromwells concern re-our world class recruitment team. we all know a striker. full backs and replacement centre halves should be our priority but we would probably buy 2 midfielders. as david said only KDH was a success from last summers transfer window. the jury is still out on rohl but dibling seems to be 40 mill. dud we;ve seen plenty of them before !
we will miss illimans goals and its gonna be a tough season - will there be 3 teams worse than us ?
28/07/2026 23:41:44
Went to Stoke tonight.
We need players.
29/07/2026 00:57:22
To continue on from Bobby#22, these pre-season games obviously serve some purpose but for years they have simply filled me with dread about the new season.
I was pleased with the Dundee result until I watched the lowlights and realised we were playing with 12 men, including the Dundee ‘keeper, bless him. We certainly needed him against Bolton and Stoke.
Interested in Lyndon’s comment about players now seeking to go and earn hysterical money over there, before returning to the relative pauperism of the Premier League, while still in their prime. Madness.
29/07/2026 03:00:29
As an avid fan of American sports, I have got used to seeing my star players being traded/released (waived is the more cold-blooded word used across the Pond).
The Saudi's money would set his family up for generations, so if we were in his shoes, why not? Especially with his upbringing and the short playing career.
So, as long as we sell well (anything upward from £70MM) and replenish the squad using that fee in return with, preferably, 2 Hackney-like signings (young, U23, with upsides) before the deadline, I would be satisfied and hopeful of the new season (although Moyes' stubborness and ultra-conservatism would more than likely let me down again 10 months from now, IMHO).
29/07/2026 06:07:16
The consensus seems to be it would make good business to sell Ndiaye for £70 million as it is model working.
It does place an additional challenge on the recruitment team.
The current squad looks like it will score less goals than 2025/26, when we had the 6th lowest goals scored total in the Premier League.
8 goals and 9 assists came from Ndiaye and Grealish last season. That is with Jack only playing half a season and Illy’s form dropping off after Afcon.
Those goals and assists are what we need to replace in the aggregate if they are not here next season.
29/07/2026 09:38:55
Bobby 22.
My thoughts are with you
29/07/2026 11:53:30
Everybody sells, at the right price.
Will we get the right price though, that's what concerns me. Also, will we reinvest sensibly. Cos we spent well over a hundred million last year, and most of them couldn't get into what was a pretty mediocre team. My main reason for supporting the return of Moyes was cos I thought he'd get a grip of recruitment, and get us some value. I have to say I'm disappointed. His first decision was to boot thelwell, who as every week passes seems to be getting proved more and more right in his purchases. Meanwhile, when we finally get some decent money we've spent a bomb on a load of mediocre recruits.
29/07/2026 12:33:26
David # 18, the illustrative first and second XI isn’t so unrealistic. We have the 2nd smallest squad in the division and need to stock up. I agree that we might not upgrade Mykolenko and may also keep one of Alcaraz or Iroegbunam- but other than that I’d be surprised if we don’t make 4 or 5 further signings. The window hasn’t taken off at all yet and won’t for another couple of weeks.
Steve # 25 you’re right we do need more goals. There’s no single solution to this - but bringing in a small handful of players will enable better football, more effective attacking football and more goals. It links back to (I hope) a decent number of further signings this window
29/07/2026 12:38:05
Kevin £100m is really not very much at all these days. For a team that ended the previous season with 13 players (many of whom were rubbish) we spent a tiny amount last summer.
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28/07/2026 06:46:53
Take the money. Ndiaye is an ambitious player and we are no longer an ambitious club.
Although at times a memorising talent there were long spells last season he was just ‘not doing it’. Who knows the reason why, but the nature of the current setup means we need consistency over flickering wonderment.
Moyes is right in that we have become a Bournemouth et al club. We give players like Ndiaye a platform to shine before selling them on to a big club. This kind of talk sticks in my throat but that’s what we have become.