Manchester City’s acquisition of Iliman Ndiaye can add enough attacking spark to overthrow Arsenal this season.
The Senegal international brings to the Etihad the ability to play on either flank. He is one of the few two-footed attackers in the Premier League.
Last season at Everton, David Moyes started with him on the right but transferred him to the left after Grealish suffered his season-ending injury in January. He was effective in both flanks and with both feet: five of the 11 goals he scored in open play were with his left foot.
The fact that he can attack defenders on either side would give Enzo Maresca a lot of flexibility in deploying him to help loosen tight defences.
Ndiaye’s style of play also seems to fit naturally with the way Maresca likes to play. In his time at Chelsea, the Italian showed he prefers to control possession and make short passes, but then task his wingers with bringing the creativity out wide to break down teams who defend deep.
Ndiaye has both the close control and the dribbling to meet either of those requirements. He is happy to play operate close to opponents and combine with his teammates in busy areas, with short passes, quick exchanges and give-and-goes.
He is also one of the Premier League’s most skilful players and out wide he does not shy away from running at defenders. Last season, for example, Ndiaye completed 49% of his take-ons, ahead of his new teammate Doku at 46%. He was also responsible for 34.8% of Everton’s completed take-ons, the highest individual proportion of any Premier League team’s total.
The main concern is his end product. Ndiaye finished last season with four non-penalty goals and three assists, a modest return for a player who regularly threatens defenders. City would demand more, although Doku has not particularly been great either in this aspect.
It could of course be argued that Ndiaye’s limited goal contributions came in a mid-table team. It is yet to be seen how he will perform at City, where he would have more possession, more quality around him, and more opportunities in the final third.
Maresca will have to rely on different options if his side are to be competitive, and Ndiaye could yet prove to be one of the more effective ones.
