City Hijack Ndiaye as Richarlison Drama Kills Spurs Deal

Manchester City have moved fast. With their £80m pursuit of Cody Gakpo falling apart, Pep Guardiola's side turned around and agreed a deal worth up to £65m for Everton winger Iliman Ndiaye. It's a sharp piece of business, and the story behind how it happened tells you a lot about how wild this window has been.

How Richarlison Accidentally Handed City a Winger

This one starts with Tottenham. Spurs had agreed a deal with Everton to sign Ndiaye on Friday night, with the whole thing hinging on Richarlison moving the other way in a separate transfer. Everton put £35m on the table to bring the Brazilian back to Goodison, and it looked done. Then Richarlison said no.

In a public Instagram statement, the Spurs forward made it clear he wasn't happy about the way the deal was handled, saying he would no longer let others decide his future for him. He said he wanted to return to Everton but not on those terms. With Richarlison refusing to move, Tottenham couldn't proceed with their end of the Ndiaye deal. City walked straight in.

Tottenham have now pivoted to a season-long loan for Chelsea winger Mykhailo Mudryk, which tells you everything about how quickly that situation unravelled.

Why City Wanted Ndiaye in the First Place

Let's be clear, this wasn't panic buying. City identified Gakpo first and spent real time negotiating with Liverpool, but that deal died when Liverpool struggled to find a replacement after completing the £123m signing of Bradley Barcola from PSG. Without a new wide player lined up, Liverpool decided to hold onto Gakpo, leaving City needing to act fast.

Ndiaye, 26, is a different profile to Gakpo but still brings directness, pace and quality in wide areas. His football at Everton showed a player capable of performing consistently in the Premier League, and at £60m plus £5m in add-ons, City are paying a significant but not outrageous fee for a player in the peak years of his career.

For a City side that's been finding goals harder to come by than in previous seasons, adding another creative threat in wide positions makes sense. Ndiaye gives Guardiola options, and Guardiola always finds a use for technically quick wide players.

The Betting Angle Worth Watching

From a football betting perspective, this deal has ripple effects worth tracking. City's odds to win the Premier League title were already shifting before this window, and adding Ndiaye to a squad that also still has Erling Haaland up front only strengthens the case for them being competitive in the title race.

Ndiaye himself is worth keeping an eye on in the anytime scorer and assist markets once he settles in. Players who move to bigger clubs with better service around them often see a significant uptick in output, and at City, he'll be playing behind one of the most intelligent midfields in world football.

For Everton, losing Ndiaye is a real blow. Their odds to finish in the bottom three are worth revisiting. They're already in a difficult position, and losing one of their most dynamic attackers without an obvious like-for-like replacement coming in changes their outlook significantly.

Spurs are worth a look too. They're now heading into the next phase of the season relying on Mudryk on loan rather than landing a permanent winger they'd agreed a deal for. That's not ideal, and it could affect their top-four chances depending on how quickly Mudryk adapts.

Our Take

City got their man in the end, just not the man they originally wanted. We think Ndiaye will thrive at the Etihad. He's got the pace and directness to hurt defenses at the highest level, and Guardiola will sharpen the rest of his game. City look a good shout in the title market if they can get him firing quickly.

The real loser here is Spurs. Their window has been defined by near misses and drama they didn't need, and the Richarlison situation being played out publicly on social media won't have helped the mood at the club. Everton, quietly, are also in a more vulnerable spot than their odds might currently suggest.

In football, chaos creates opportunity. City spotted theirs and moved.