Everton star Iliman Ndiaye’s incredible rise from Sunday League to £15million Premier League star in just six years
ILIMAN NDIAYE has completed a rise from Sunday League to £15million Premier League star in just six years.
The forward, 24, completed a £15million switch to Everton from Marseille on Wednesday.
Ndiaye has signed a five-year deal with the Toffees through to the summer of 2029.
Incredibly, he was playing grassroots football as recently as 2018 before his rise to the top flight.
The French-born attacker joined Sunday League club Rising Ballers after they spotted him playing five-a-side in Hammersmith.
Rising Ballers work to help talented players get into professional football and they certainly achieved their goal with Ndiaye.
He went on to join non-league side Boreham Wood before sealing a move to Sheffield United in 2020.
The then Premier League club loaned him to Northern Premier League side Hyde before he broke into the first-team, though.
Ndiaye would make his top-flight debut for the Blades before their relegation in 2021.
Following their drop into the Championship, he established himself as a key man and fired United to promotion two years later.
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By the time the club accepted a bid from Marseille last summer, Ndiaye had scored 22 goals and provided 14 assists in 88 appearances.
He had also featured at the 2022 World Cup for Senegal, winning three of his 19 international caps at the tournament.
During his single season with Marseille, where he spent time as a youngster, Ndiaye scored four goals and added five assists.
He is now back in England, though, ahead of the new Premier League season.
Ndiaye becomes Sean Dyche’s third signing of the summer at Goodison Park.
Everton have already signed midfielder Tim Iroegbunam from Aston Villa and extended Jack Harrison’s loan by another season.
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