Classico client Ndiaye heads to Manchester City
Classico Sports Management client Iliman Ndiaye is set to join Manchester City after the club reached an agreement with Everton.
The deal is worth a £65m package, with club-to-club agreement in place, personal terms agreed and the green light now given for medical tests. Ndiaye has accepted the City move after a fast-moving final stage in which Tottenham had also been trying to bring him in.
For Enzo Maresca, this is a major attacking addition late in the window. City lost Savinho to Tottenham, moved for Allan from Palmeiras, and also explored Cody Gakpo before turning strongly toward Ndiaye.
City win late race for Everton attacker
Manchester City’s move is a market hijack.
Tottenham had been working seriously on Ndiaye and were close to a deal with Everton, but City entered with Champions League football, a stronger sporting platform and a package that convinced both club and player.
Ndiaye’s profile makes sense for Maresca. He can play from the right, from the left, as a second striker or as a central attacker behind the No.9. That flexibility matters in a City squad that needs wide depth after Savinho’s exit and more direct carrying after several attacking changes.
He is not a pure touchline winger. Ndiaye likes to receive between lines, turn quickly, dribble into traffic and create momentum around the box. That gives City a different rhythm from some of their more structured wide players.
Everton accept major profit
Everton signed Ndiaye from Marseille in 2024 for a fee reported around €18m plus add-ons. Two years later, they are selling him for a £65m package.
That is excellent business financially, but difficult sporting-wise. Ndiaye became one of Everton’s most important attacking players, and his exit comes at a sensitive moment in the club’s squad planning.
His Everton numbers show why the fee climbed. FBref lists him with 32 Premier League appearances, 32 starts, six goals and three assists in 2025/26. Across his Everton spell, he produced 17 goals and four assists in 73 appearances, while also staying important for Senegal.
Everton had tried to keep him and offered new terms, but Ndiaye’s wish to play Champions League football made the City route too strong once the opportunity arrived.
Why Maresca wanted him
Maresca wants attackers who can play more than one role and still keep technical control.
Ndiaye fits that. He is sharp in tight spaces, aggressive when carrying the ball and confident receiving under pressure. He can help City against deep blocks, but he can also run transitions when games become stretched.
The Senegal international is 26, so City are buying a player in his peak years rather than a long-term academy-style project. That matters after losing Savinho, because Maresca needed someone who could contribute immediately.
The fee is high, but City are paying for Premier League adaptation. Ndiaye already knows the league, knows the physical level and has proved he can produce in a side that did not always dominate the ball.
Agency angle
This is a landmark Premier League deal for Classico Sports Management, the Paris-based agency founded by Jonathan Maarek.
Classico’s FootballAgencies profile lists Ndiaye among its leading clients, alongside names such as Mamadou Sarr, Guillaume Restes, Romain Faivre, Bafodé Diakité, Keito Nakamura, Lucas Digne and Christian Mawissa.
The agency has built a strong reputation across France, England, Belgium, Germany and MLS, with a focus on long-term career planning and international transfers. Ndiaye’s path fits that model perfectly: Marseille to Everton, Premier League development, then a major move to Manchester City at peak age.
For FootballAgencies readers, this is the agency story: Classico have helped turn Ndiaye from a talented Marseille returnee into a £65m Manchester City signing in just two seasons.
Medical now the final step
The structure is now clear. Manchester City have the agreement with Everton, personal terms are in place, and medical tests are approved.
If all checks are completed, Ndiaye will become another major late-window signing for City and one of the biggest Senegalese transfers of recent years.
For Everton, it is a painful sale but a huge financial return. For City, it is a flexible attacking addition for Maresca. For Classico Sports Management, it is one of the agency’s biggest Premier League deals yet.
