Iliman Ndiaye 10

Everton made Iliman Ndiaye their second new signing of the summer of 2024 after completing a deal with Olympique Marseille for the Senegal international in early July. He followed Tim Iroegbunam through the door by signing a five-year contract with the Blues which tied him to the Club until 2029.

The fee was officially undisclosed but waswidely reported to be in the region of £15.6m (~€17m) plus add-ons which represented a break-even sale for the French club who bought Ndiaye off Sheffield United the year before.

Ndiaye had been a target of the Blues' Director of Football, Kevin Thelwell at the time but he did not have the funds to compete with Marseille at a time when the only deals Everton could do were with minimal cash up front.

That remained the case im the 20-24 close season but with Marseille content to accept staggered payments, it enabled Thelwell to finally get his man.

Ndiaye was a star performer for the Blades during their promotion-securing season in 2022-23 when he scored 15 goals and weighed in with 12 assists across 52 appearances in all competitions.

He played 46 times for Marseille last season but only scored four times, in indication of how difficult he found the transition to Ligue 1 and of a move that didn't pan out the way he had hoped.

Iliman had to wait for his chance to impress the Everton faithful as Sean Dyche kept faith with his trusted lieutenant, Abdoulaye Doucoure, in the first couple of games of 2024-25, the Senegalese coming off the bench against Brighton and Tottenham in heavy defeats.

He made his full debut in the Carabao Cup Second Round tie against Doncaster Rovers under the lights at Goodison Park and scored his first goal in the Blues' colors in a 3-0 victory.

FactFile