Manchester City's Ndiaye Deal Exposes Everton's Deadline-Day Merry-Go-Round

Manchester City signed Iliman Ndiaye from Everton for up to £65m on deadline day, then turned round a few hours later and sent Jack Grealish back to Goodison Park on a season-long loan. It is the kind of symmetry that only transfer deadline day can produce: City took Everton's best attacking talent and handed them a replacement from their own squad, all before the 11pm cut-off.

The £60m deal, plus a further £5m in add-ons, saw Ndiaye agree a five-year contract at the Etihad Stadium. BBC Sport reports that the 26-year-old Senegal international called it "the chance of a lifetime", adding that he had "always had the belief" he could play for a club competing for the biggest prizes.

The Ndiaye Deal: Why City Moved Fast After the Spurs Collapse

City's move for Ndiaye only became possible because of a deal that fell apart. Tottenham Hotspur had agreed terms with Everton on the Friday before deadline day, with Richarlison moving back to Goodison Park as part of the arrangement, according to BBC Sport.

Richarlison's Stalled Return Blew the Deal Open

Sources cited by the BBC indicate Richarlison failed to agree personal terms with his old club, and with that piece of the puzzle missing, Spurs were unable to complete the swap for Ndiaye. That left the winger available, and City moved quickly to hijack the deal. ESPN FC's coverage confirms the move was completed on deadline day, reporting the fee at roughly $88m, a figure consistent with the BBC's £65m valuation once converted.

A Breakout Season That Priced Him Out of Merseyside

Ndiaye's rapid rise made this outcome almost inevitable. Since joining Everton from Marseille in 2024, he scored 21 goals in 74 appearances, numbers that turned him from a promising Ligue 1 import into one of the Premier League's most coveted wide forwards. That kind of output, allied to his age and resale value, made him an obvious target once City's interest became clear and Spurs' deal collapsed.

Everton's Twist: Grealish Returns as Ndiaye Departs

The most striking part of the day was not that Everton sold Ndiaye. It was who they turned to as cover. Grealish, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Goodison Park before a foot injury ended his campaign early, is heading back for a second consecutive loan spell, this time for the full 2026-27 season.

Same Club, Same Loanee, New Circumstances

CaughtOffside reports that the 30-year-old "enjoyed a positive spell at Everton last season before a foot injury brought his campaign to a premature end," and that the two clubs reached agreement over another season-long loan, with a medical arranged for deadline day itself. ESPN FC confirms Everton announced the loan on Tuesday, effectively closing the loop on the day's business.

The financial mechanics are notable too. FourFourTwo notes that Everton have had to "green light" a significant wage commitment to bring Grealish back, underlining how much of his City salary the Toffees are absorbing to keep him on Merseyside.

• Ndiaye out: £65m deal, five-year contract at City
• Grealish in: season-long loan, second consecutive spell at Everton
• Richarlison: stayed at Spurs after personal terms collapsed the original swap

City's Deadline-Day Spending Spree in Context

Ndiaye was only one part of an extraordinary day of business for Pep Guardiola's side. City also agreed a joint-British transfer record fee of £125m for Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez, according to BBC Sport, taking the club's combined outlay on the two deals to roughly £190m in a single afternoon.

Eighth Signing of a Very Busy Summer

Fernandez becomes City's eighth summer arrival, joining a list that already included Elliot Anderson, Geronimo Rulli, Ayyoub Bouaddi, Allan Elias, Jeremy Monga and Pierce Charles. It is a squad rebuild on a scale few Premier League clubs could contemplate, and it comes as City continue to face scrutiny over Profit and Sustainability Rules compliance.

Loaning out Grealish, whose transfer to City in 2021 cost £100m, offers a partial answer to that scrutiny. It trims the wage bill and squad numbers while keeping a asset's valuation on the books, even as City add another attacking player in Ndiaye. Whether Guardiola's forward line is now overloaded, with Ndiaye joining an attacking group that already features established internationals, is a question City's coaching staff will have to answer through team selection rather than transfer business.

What happens next

For Everton, the immediate task is integrating Grealish back into David Moyes' plans while replacing the attacking output Ndiaye leaves behind. The club enters the season having sold a 21-goal contributor and taken on a loanee still building fitness after last season's injury, a trade-off that will be judged on results rather than name value.

For City, the pressure now shifts to squeezing value from a squad that has added eight new faces in one summer, headlined by a joint-British-record fee for Fernandez and a fresh long-term deal for Ndiaye. Guardiola will need to manage rotation carefully, and PSR compliance will remain under the microscope given the scale of outlay.

The collapsed Tottenham-Richarlison-Everton triangle is also worth watching. Richarlison stays at Spurs for now, but the failed personal-terms negotiation that indirectly delivered Ndiaye to City is a reminder of how quickly deadline-day fortunes can swing on details far removed from transfer fees.