“If someone had told me back then that the scrawny 16-year-old I had would be playing in the Premier League for a massive club like Everton, I wouldn’t have believed them,” says Cameron Mawer with a smile.
“It’s been a Roy Of The Rovers story for Iliman — from where he’s come from. The journey just feels too big, but he gives hope to everyone I work with that it can happen if you do the right things. Iliman’s the inspiration.”
Mawer was working in the youth ranks at non-League side Boreham Wood in Hertfordshire, north-west of London, when he first encountered Iliman Ndiaye. He recalls getting in his minibus and picking up a group of players another nearby football programme could not “find an education provider for”.
Out of the 16 kids he met that day, only two stayed. Ndiaye was one of the two.
The Everton and Senegal forward’s path to Boreham Wood had been far from conventional. Born in Rouen in northern France, he spent time in the youth ranks at Marseille in the south of France and Senegal’s Dakar Sacre Coeur before moving to England at age 14 with his family.
Ndiaye had a long stint at Southampton on the south coast, but after three years training there and a six-week trial, he moved to Boreham Wood while still playing in London’s amateur leagues.
The impression he made on his new coaches was instantaneous.
Boreham Wood, according to Mawer, had “around 500” boys in their community programme but Ndiaye was quickly promoted into their ‘elite squad’ of 25 to 30 youngsters.
“He walked through the gate — we were out early, like usual — and we did some keepy-uppies,” says Mawer, who is now academy director at Wealdstone, another non-League side in London’s northern commuter belt. “Straightaway, I was like ‘Wow, this kid’s not bad’.
“His mentality stood out. He came in as an under-17 (into an under-19s setup), wasn’t the strongest physically at first but there weren’t many that had the ability and work rate. He was a grafter and super-talented, so humble.
“Iliman was always very good with his body and looking after the ball. But from his upbringing, he’s a fighter. It didn’t matter how big or strong they were, he was never put off and loved a battle. He loved a scrap and looked after himself. He’d go into first-team sessions as a second-year scholar and would sit players down with his feet, which were unbelievable. He was fearless.”
Chances are, you have seen one of Ndiaye’s best moments at Boreham Wood. When he started to break through at senior level with Sheffield United years later, one of his goals from a youth tournament played at the England national team’s St George’s Park headquarters resurfaced online.
The short clip shows what many would now see as Ndiaye’s trademark goal; the individualistic brilliance to bring down a long ball in midfield and slalom through the opposition with pace, poise and deft footwork, followed by a composed finish.
Solo goal ⚽💯 pic.twitter.com/LR0B3Gxauy
— iliman Ndiaye (@iliman_ndiaye) December 11, 2018
At his best, there is something rhythmical about Ndiaye in full flow, as Everton fans have quickly discovered following his summer transfer. As a child, his father, a dance choreographer, would play music as they practised dribbling together. During his time in Senegal, living with family, Ndiaye honed his skills on the west African nation’s sandy beaches.
“I’ve worked in this bracket for the last 10 years. He is, without doubt, the most naturally gifted player (of that time),” Mawer says. “Within the first five yards, he’d shift you off balance and be gone. He was electric, and his feet were so good. I’d never seen that ability to move around the pitch with the ball at this level. Nobody could live with him.”
There is a common theme when speaking to Ndiaye’s former coaches. While his talent was clear, he was also prepared to put in the work needed to improve. The chasm between non-League football and the Premier League is vast, but Ndiaye had unwavering belief in his ability.
“He was very focused and quiet,” Mawer says. “The only time he was different was on the pitch. Whenever we lost, you’d see a different side, as he hated losing, but he was so humble off the pitch.
“I loved working with him, and like to think I played a tiny role in helping him get to where he is. A few times when I was reserves manager, I dragged him off at half-time because he was dribbling in the wrong areas, near his own penalty box. I had to help him learn when and when not to use his skills.
“I’m like a proud father, knowing where he’s come from. I’d always make sure my players had a backup option (if a career in football didn’t work out) but Iliman was the only player I worked with who refused to discuss a Plan B. He didn’t relent.”
Ndiaye got his first big break in summer 2019, when he was picked up by Sheffield United, then newly promoted to the Premier League. It was there, under the tutelage of their under-23s manager Paul Heckingbottom, that his progress towards the first-team really started to accelerate.
“Before I got the under-23s job, I was sent some background on the players,” Heckingbottom, now manager of Championship side Preston North End, tells The Athletic. “The background on Iliman was that he was a talent but there wasn’t really a pathway for him into the first team. He was a No 10 or played wide, but the first team was using 3-5-2 at the time and he didn’t fit in.
“I started working with him as part of a front two, because I wanted the under-23s to mirror the first team. After a couple of weeks, I realised he was the best we had. He still couldn’t get near to the first team, but I could see he had work ethic and a desire to improve. Everyone knew he had quality with the ball but he had really good game-understanding — he improved when you coached him.”
When United and manager Chris Wilder parted ways in March 2021 with relegation looming, Heckingbottom was put in caretaker charge and handed Ndiaye his Premier League debut that month as a late substitute in a 5-0 defeat against Leicester City.
“He deserved to be there,” Heckingbottom says. “He’s physically very strong and uses his body really well. I had no doubts about his quality and he trusted me, so we were able to get the best out of him.”
Competition for places up front was fierce at Bramall Lane the following season, with now England international Morgan Gibbs-White, Scotland striker Oli McBurnie and club legend Billy Sharp among the options available to Heckingbottom, who by then had been given the permanent job. But Ndiaye made 30 appearances in the Championship, scoring seven times as United made the play-offs.
Despite Ndiaye’s versatility — he has been used predominantly from the left by Everton manager Sean Dyche so far — Heckingbottom thinks he is best in a central role, playing off the main striker.
“I know he’s played wide, but there’s players with more pace and power who can be more effective there,” Heckingbottom says. “Iliman sets himself apart when he’s in tight spaces with lots of bodies around him. That’s where he’s another level to most players.
“As a striker, he comes and finds the space, but he’s also naturally very good around the box. When you play the ball into him against big, strong centre-backs, he gets defenders to commit themselves.”
Ndiaye scored a number of memorable solo goals for Sheffield United, including one away to Fulham in December 2021 and a solo effort in the FA Cup against Tottenham Hotspur during the 2022-23 season. But Heckingbottom and his strikers’ coach Jack Lester wanted him to improve his output, and spent time working with him on the training ground to develop more of a poacher’s instinct.
WHAT A GOAL BY ILIMAN NDIAYE 🤯
SHEFFIELD UNITED TAKE THE LEAD AGAINST SPURS 🔥#BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/ssjp5ZNsZ3
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) March 1, 2023
By the end of that latter campaign, United were promoted back to the Premier League and Ndiaye, off the back of a haul of 14 goals and 11 assists in the Championship, had secured a big move back to boyhood club Marseille.
“The goal in the Fulham game was a big moment for him to announce himself in English football,” Heckingbottom says. “The Spurs goal was another moment of magic and the kind of thing everyone who had worked with him knew he was capable of. But he did a lot of work with Jack (Lester) as well. It was getting him thinking like a centre-forward and making sure he was always between the goalposts.
“I remember one game against Cardiff in particular, going mad at him and then he got a tap-in from a couple of yards out. It’s still the best goal I’ve seen him score, because the penny had dropped. At Marseille I didn’t see that as much, as he was playing wide.”
A year later Ndiaye is back in England with Everton, his dream return to Marseille having not worked out.
That short stint back in France was a setback for a player who has come so far from those days on parks pitches in London, but it would be no surprise to those who know him if he bounced back quickly.
“He’s quiet, driven, and loves football,” Heckingbottom says. “He’s strong-willed and determined to prove people wrong.
“Each time he got tested, he thrived. There were times when I took him off or kept him on the bench. I would tell him he needed to score more goals than Billy (Sharp) or win the ball back more than Morgan (Gibbs-White) to play. But I knew he could do it and he nailed down a place.
“Iliman’s always had challenges in his life and he’s dealt with them.”
(Top photo: Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)
