Richarlison's Instagram revolt hands Manchester City a £65m Ndiaye smash-and-grab

Manchester City have agreed a deal worth up to £65m to sign Iliman Ndiaye from Everton, a guaranteed £60m plus £5m in add-ons, according to BBC Sport. It is a fee Everton would never have seen had their original plan with Tottenham gone through as intended.

That plan collapsed because one player refused to be a pawn in someone else's transfer window. Richarlison's public rejection of a return to Goodison Park, delivered on Instagram rather than through his club, is the real story behind City's opportunistic swoop.

How Manchester City hijacked the Ndiaye deal

The original arrangement was straightforward on paper. Tottenham and Everton agreed deals on Friday night for Ndiaye to move to north London, with Richarlison heading back to Merseyside as part of a separate, linked transfer, BBC Sport reports. Everton were prepared to pay around £35m for the Brazil forward, a figure that would have made the swap workable for all three parties.

A £65m fee that dwarfs Everton's original plan

When Richarlison's side of the deal fell apart, Spurs could no longer proceed with signing Ndiaye either. City, who had been monitoring the situation, moved decisively and agreed a package worth up to £65m directly with Everton, comfortably more than the Merseyside club would have recouped through the swap structure with Spurs, per BBC Sport's reporting.

It is a classic City manoeuvre: patient in the background, ruthless once a rival deal shows a crack. Ndiaye joined Everton from Marseille in 2024, and his stock has clearly risen enough for City to view a straight £60m-plus commitment as worthwhile business on deadline day.

Richarlison's Instagram statement that blew up the Everton-Spurs swap

The catalyst for all of this was not a medical, a release clause, or an agent's phone call. It was a personal statement posted directly to fans, bypassing the usual club channels entirely.

"Never again will anyone decide my future for me"

Sources indicate Richarlison failed to agree personal terms with Everton, who had offered around £35m for their former forward, BBC Sport understands. Rather than let the breakdown play out quietly, Richarlison addressed it head-on in an emotional Instagram post on Monday.

"After everything I've been through in the last few years, I've decided that never again will anyone decide my future for me. If they reach an agreement between Spurs and Everton, I will return to my beloved club. My intention was to go back to the place where I was very happy, yes, but the negotiations happened only in the way certain people wanted, and it will no longer be like that. Despite all this turmoil, I am under contract at Spurs and will remain at the club's disposal." Richarlison via BBC Sport

It is a striking statement for several reasons. Richarlison does not deny wanting to return to Everton, the club where he made his Premier League name. But he is drawing a clear line between wanting a move and accepting whatever terms are put in front of him, insisting the process was being dictated by others rather than negotiated with him.

Crucially, he also commits to staying professional at Spurs regardless of the outcome, a detail that will matter to Thomas Frank if Richarlison remains in north London beyond deadline day. The statement effectively killed the swap and, in doing so, cleared the runway for City.

The knock-on effect: Mudryk, Gakpo and City's deadline-day scramble

One collapsed personal-terms negotiation has now rippled across four Premier League clubs, and the domino effect does not stop with Ndiaye.

Spurs pivot to Mudryk as Everton's plans unravel

With the Ndiaye deal dead, Tottenham have moved on quickly. The club are now in talks to sign Chelsea winger Mykhailo Mudryk on a season-long loan, BBC Sport reports, a sign of how quickly clubs are recalibrating with the window closing.

Gakpo's future in the balance after Liverpool's £123m Barcola move

City's business does not end with Ndiaye. Their proposed £80m move for Liverpool's Cody Gakpo looked set to collapse on Monday, with City having opened talks over the Netherlands international only for the situation to shift after Liverpool completed a fee worth up to £123m for France forward Bradley Barcola from Paris St-Germain, according to BBC Sport.

Liverpool are still willing to sell Gakpo, 27, but only if they can land a replacement themselves. Their targeted moves for Brighton's Yankuba Minteh and Crystal Palace's Ismaila Sarr have both stalled over valuation, meaning Liverpool are now expected to keep Gakpo unless a new winger deal materialises before Tuesday's cut-off.

• Ndiaye: Everton to Manchester City, up to £65m
• Richarlison: stays at Tottenham after failed Everton return
• Mudryk: Spurs pursuing a season-long loan from Chelsea
• Gakpo: Liverpool move to City in doubt after Barcola signing

The scramble extends further still. City have also opened talks with Chelsea over midfielder Enzo Fernández, BBC Sport reports, with Fabrizio Romano earlier claiming a verbal agreement was already in place between player and club, according to CaughtOffside. That outlet was careful to note no formal club-to-club negotiations had taken place at that stage, a detail that lines up with BBC Sport's later framing of talks only just being opened.

A deadline racing towards its final hours

All of this is playing out against a hard stop. The Premier League's summer window closes on 1 September at 6pm ET, ESPN reports, which is 11pm UK time, leaving clubs only hours to finalise deals that were reshaped by Richarlison's intervention.

What happens next

Expect the Ndiaye deal to move through medical and contract stages quickly given the fee is already agreed, with City keen to have him available as early as possible. Richarlison, for now, stays a Tottenham player, and how Frank integrates a forward who publicly aired his frustration with the club's transfer dealings will be worth watching once the window shuts.

Tottenham's ability to land Mudryk on loan will determine how badly the collapsed swap actually hurts their attacking options, while Liverpool's next 24 hours hinge on whether they can still find a winger to replace Gakpo. If they cannot, expect Gakpo to stay at Anfield beyond deadline day regardless of City's interest.

For City, the Ndiaye deal is unlikely to be their last piece of business before the deadline. With talks over Fernández also live, deadline day at the Etihad looks set to run right down to the wire.