Everton sell fan favorite Ndiaye to Manchester City for $87 million as replacement deal collapses

Everton sold winger Iliman Ndiaye to Manchester City on Tuesday for a fee that could rise to £65 million ($87 million), one of the largest sales in the club's history, on a day that also saw the Merseyside club's attempt to replace him collapse when a prospective signing failed a medical hours before the summer transfer window closed at 23:00 BST.

The 26-year-old Senegal international signed a five-year contract at the Etihad Stadium, becoming Manchester City's eighth summer signing under new manager Enzo Maresca, who took over from Pep Guardiola in June. Everton, in turn, brought back winger Jack Grealish on a season-long loan from City, but the club's separate deal to sign Monaco forward Folarin Balogun as a direct replacement for Ndiaye was left in serious jeopardy after he did not pass Everton's medical examination.

The numbers

City's fee for Ndiaye is structured as £60 million guaranteed plus £5 million in add-ons, a package reported at roughly €75.8 million. Everton signed him from Marseille in July 2024, and over two seasons at the club he scored 17 goals and added four assists in 74 appearances, including the winning goal in Everton's final match at Goodison Park and the first-ever competitive goal at the club's new Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Grealish's loan return carries no fee, with Everton covering roughly 90 percent of his wages and holding an option to sign him permanently next summer for £50 million once his City contract expires. The Balogun deal that fell through had been agreed with Monaco in the $54-58 million range, with personal terms on a four-year contract already settled before the medical raised doubts about his fitness.

How the deal came together

Manchester City moved for Ndiaye after their pursuit of Liverpool winger Cody Gakpo stalled when Liverpool rejected an £80 million bid, and after wingers Savio and Omar Marmoush left the Etihad for Tottenham Hotspur earlier in the window. Ndiaye had drawn interest from City and Arsenal for weeks, but as recently as late August, Everton manager David Moyes insisted the club was not looking to sell.

"We're certainly not in a hurry to sell our best players, that's for sure," Moyes said ahead of Everton's league trip to Bournemouth, adding that the club had received no contact from any club over the player at that point.

That stance shifted once City returned with an improved package on deadline day. Ndiaye, who joined Everton for a fee in the region of €17.5 million, becomes one of the club's most lucrative sales of the modern era. His arrival at City fills a hole left after the club's summer rebuild under Maresca, who has now made eight signings since replacing Guardiola, including the club-record £116 million capture of midfielder Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest earlier in the window.

Ndiaye's stock had also risen over the summer after he featured for Senegal at this year's World Cup, where he was among the squad's most prominent attacking players. He arrived at Everton with modest fanfare in 2024 but grew into one of the club's most reliable attacking outlets across two seasons, according to the club's own player records, adapting to a role on the right flank once Grealish's first loan spell began the previous year.

Who is affected

The sale leaves Everton short of attacking options just as the Premier League season gets under way, with the club's plan to replace Ndiaye's output now unresolved. Balogun's proposed move, according to reporting on the failed medical, was in danger of falling apart entirely, with Everton's medical staff unconvinced the striker was fully fit after he played through a minor injury at this year's World Cup. Monaco and the player's camp maintained he was ready to play.

For Grealish, the move is a second consecutive season-long loan at Everton after a first spell that produced two goals and six assists in 20 appearances before a foot injury ended his campaign early in January. The 30-year-old fell out of the first-team picture at City following Maresca's arrival.

Reaction

Grealish, unveiled by Everton on Tuesday, spoke warmly about returning to the club where he says he rediscovered his form.

"I think I'm at my best at everything in life, not just football, when I feel loved. That's what the manager has given me, what my teammates have given me and especially what the fans have given me," Grealish said, adding that he was "ready to start training tomorrow."

Ndiaye, for his part, described the move to City in similarly enthusiastic terms after his medical and unveiling. "I've worked my whole life for an opportunity like this," he said. "City are one of the best clubs in the world and I've seen them win everything as I've grown up. To be able to write my own chapter in a story that special is the chance of a lifetime and I'm determined to grab it with both hands."

Among Everton supporters, the sale has renewed criticism of the club's recruitment structure, which currently has no single sporting director overseeing transfer strategy, with duties spread across several club executives alongside Moyes himself.

What happens next

With the transfer window shut for the season, City will look to integrate Ndiaye immediately into Maresca's system as an alternative wide option to Gakpo-style profiles the club had targeted earlier in the window. Everton must now decide whether to continue pursuing Balogun in some form once the medical concerns are resolved, sign an alternative forward before the domestic squad-registration deadline, or enter the season with a lighter attacking group built around Grealish's return and existing options. Both clubs are next in Premier League action this coming weekend, when the makeup of their reshaped squads will be tested for the first time.