How Everton can sign new Iliman Ndiaye this summer

Everton are keen to look to the Championship to claim football league glory.

Already this summer, they have secured the services of Hayden Hackney, who was one of the most talked-about talents in the second division last season for Middlesbrough, with a total of 16 goals to his name for Boro in the ranks.

Priced at £16m, it is expected Hackney can slot seamlessly into David Moyes’ starting XI when the Premier League resumes next month.

Iliman Ndiaye, when they bought him from Marseille, started to make a name for himself in the Championship, and at Sheffield United, and the Senegalese striker is still one of the Toffees’ most cunning attackers, even if he is often out of form.

Moyes may soon welcome another talent like Ndiaye into his ranks, as the EFL market is once again tested.

Everton have reached an agreement to sign the star for £20m

Everton are likely to seek a number of attacking reinforcements.

Indeed, reports suggest that Moyes and Co are keen to land Pavel Sulc from Lyon, alongside Roony Bardghji, who is currently on Barcelona’s books.

Apart from casting a net in the distant stages of Europe, Everton also have an eye on the lower leagues in England, with an agreement on personal terms said to have been reached between the players of the Merseyside titans and Abdul Fatawu, who is on the books of Leicester City and who have been relegated in League One.

This is according to Turkish journalist Murat Ozen, who revealed that he is on the agenda for the transfer of Beskitas. A price tag of £20m has been slapped on his shoulders according to previous reports.

It seems that Everton have won the goals they wanted to surpass their rivals based in Istanbul, and the Toffees have kept everything that Fatawu can be as successful as Ndiaye in the Premier League upon his arrival, as he has been a hot second division.

Why can Fatawu be another Ndiaye

Fatawu will not follow in Ndiaye’s footsteps completely here, as he is looking for a move to the Premier League, with a detour to Europe.

However, he will look to the former Blades striker as an obvious inspiration, as the £20m striker will believe he can beat potential team-mates in the Premier League if he makes the move, with Ndiaye reaching 15 goals in the top flight as a talented force on the ground.

The Leicester number seven has almost been beaten by his team-mate when it comes to Championship goals, with a bumper 15 to his name from 84 games for the second.

With 21 assists and in his back pocket in the thick of it, Fatawu works in the same vein as Ndiaye by always looking to open up opportunities with gung-ho, direct displays.

The Athletic’s Rob Tanner, when reviewing the 22-year-old’s heroics in the 2023/24 season that ended with Enzo Maresca’s Foxes winning the championship, noted that many second-tier defenses “struggled to contain” the 22-year-old, who managed to take 90.

Ndiaye enjoyed a bamboozling defense and, while at Bramall Lane, managed 127 successful tackles for South Yorkshire during the 2022/23 campaign.

Since then he has been able to be tricky in the Premier League, with Como scout Ben Mattinson lovingly calling him a “chaos creator” for his prolific performances last year.

With 18 goals under his belt in the elite league, he also has the results to back up all his tricks and moves, as Fatawu is ready to face the challenge of the Premier League, having only managed to play 11 games in the 2024/25 campaign due to injury.

He collected two assists, however, in the hope that more playing time under Moyes could mean he establishes himself as a Premier League talent, as Ndiaye was able to do at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Everton’s squad is on the rise for next season, with an EFL flavor in the squad even more so if the 32-times capped Ghanaian joins Hackney on Merseyside.