This is called coming out into the open. This season, the young Senegalese striker Iliman Ndiaye has enjoyed a meteoric rise. A resident of Sheffield United in the Championship, the 22-year-old winger who passed through OM has established himself as one of the biggest talents in the English second division. This Wednesday evening, he was decisive again by offering victory to his team against Tottenham in the FA Cup. A goal that rewards his excellent season with the current second in the standings. If he had started the season in relative anonymity, everything accelerated last November after the package of a certain Sadio Mané.
Forced to give up the World Cup, the Bayern Munich striker was replaced by Iliman Ndiaye in the Senegal group. His coach Aliou Cissé had then summoned him and we therefore expected to see him in a role of supersub when he had not been chosen from the base list of 26. But very quickly the entries of the native of Rouen persuaded his coach to give him a starting place which was not at all planned at the base. “I know Iliman’s qualities well, but as I said, in the national team there is a lot of competition. We try to give him playing time, he is a boy in whom we believe. We are aware that he can bring to the team. But when you arrive in your team, you have to gradually make your mark and integrate., explained Aliou Cissé at the start of the World Cup. But the reality of Ndiaye’s performance soon forced Cissé to change his plans. Coming on as a substitute against the Netherlands, it took him just 15 minutes against Qatar to clinch a starting spot against Ecuador in the qualifier. Facing England, Aliou Cissé had decided not to take any risks by putting Krepin Diatta back on the right lane. But faced with the performance of the Monaco player, Ndiaye returned directly after returning from the locker room.
A great deal this summer
His performances at the World Cup finally confirmed that he had the qualities to win over the duration in selection despite the competition with Diatta or Sarr to accompany Sadio Mané. And it is the same observation in club where he is the man of the attack of Sheffield. Author of 11 goals and 8 assists in 36 matches this season, he is one of the great architects of the very good results of the Blades. His performance against Spurs illustrates this well. “You can’t expect anything more from Iliman. This goal will probably announce its name to a slightly different audience, but I always knew what it was capable of. I know I’m going to come across as being biased, but Iliman can do this against any opponent, no matter the level of opposition. Where the best players play, the surfaces in which they do damage, he feasts. Iliman can do things with the ball that a lot of Premier League players can’t.confided this Wednesday evening his trainer Paul Heckingbottom.
Precisely, even if Sheffield reaches the Premier League at the end of the season, the future of Iliman Ndiaye seems rather vague. Already courted this winter after his good World Cup, he could be tempted to discover a new challenge after spending four years in Sheffield. At the age of 22, his profile could well interest several Ligue 1 teams. The player has never hidden his desire to return to France and in particular to his favorite club: OM. “That’s one of my first dreams. Go back there (at OM), explode and even be able to be a legend. I’m just thinking about it and I’m going to keep working”, he explained recently in an interview. What necessarily put themselves already in the pocket of the Olympian supporters. But after his excellent season, he will have to be able to match the probable large sums offered by Premier League teams. Answer at the end of the season. But in the meantime, Iliman Ndiaye is the delight of Sheffield who will certainly not want to part with him.
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the Senegalese nugget Iliman Ndiaye causes a sensation 24hfootnews.
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