Iliman Ndiaye is Everton's ace in the pack... the new signing can lead their charge back up the table
- Everton drew 1-1 with Leicester in the Premier League on Saturday
- Iliman Ndiaye scored his first goal in the top flight in the 12th minute
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One of the criticisms laid at Sean Dyche’s door last season was predictability in Everton’s game plans. New signing Iliman Ndiaye, though, offers the perfect antidote for that.
The French-born Senegal international, 24, is now Dyche’s ace in the pack. To boil it down to very basic terms, Ndiaye gets bums off seats and has an unorthodox nature that is foxing experienced defenders.
The Foxes certainly fell victim to that on Saturday as the summer signing scored his first-ever Premier League goal in a 1-1 draw that saw him take the ball in a tight area, wriggle away from two markers and unleash a well-hit shot hard and low into the corner.
Ndiaye signed from Marseille for £15.6million and, noting Everton’s well-documented financial issues — one of the root causes of those can be pointed towards historic transfer trolley-dashes — this looks like one of the most shrewd pieces of business in the Premier League this summer.
Ndiaye was originally part of the Boreham Wood setup before joining Sheffield United — he was their star man in the promotion season under Paul Heckingbottom — and was first spotted by top scouts playing in an exhibition match for referees to test VAR at St George’s Park, a match in which he danced through the opposition team to score a wonderful individual goal.
Iliman Ndiaye scored his first Premier League goal as Everton drew with Leicester
The 24-year-old gave his side the lead in the 12th minute at the King Power Stadium
Everton would go on to draw against Leicester, but the point means Sean Dyche's side can finally start looking up the table
‘He’s a raw talent as you’ll see in YouTube videos… there’s a lot of people who can do that with the ball, but they can’t be a professional footballer,’ says Heckingbottom, his former coach who is now at Preston.
‘His work ethic is first class. In a short space of time it was just improvement, improvement, improvement. Everton fans will love him.’
It is early days for Ndiaye but those Evertonians are already starting to do just that. With players like Jarrad Branthwaite closing in on a return to full health — and new striker Armando Broja able to add a new dimension when he is fit — Dyche’s men can start looking up the table after this satisfactory draw. Ndiaye can help to lead that charge.
