Iliman Ndiaye just can’t score a goal after £25m Everton bid in January

Follow us on Google Discover

What is it they say about class being permanent?

Iliman Ndiaye’s recent goal drought, one that stretches back to before the break for the Qatar World Cup, is not quite at the stage where it’s keeping Sheffield United boss Paul Heckingbottom up at night. The standards of Ndiaye’s performances have, after all, remained consistently high even during a barren couple of months. 

And, while he’s not exactly troubling the scoreboard himself at the moment, the Senegal international continues to set up his fair share of chances for those grateful Blades team-mates.

Nonetheless, with Michael Carrick’s rampant Middlesbrough side now hot on their heels – turning a two-horse race for automatic promotion into a far more interesting affair – Sheffield United would certainly benefit from their most talented attacker sorting out his navigation and rediscovering his shooting boots. 

“His games have been good,” Heckingbottom tells SUTV. “But the goals have dried up for him. 

“If you look back at the opportunities he gets, where he gets them and how he gets them, it’s only a matter of time before they drop (in).” 

Everton are big fans of Sheffield United attacker Iliman Ndiaye

According to Sky Sports, Everton had a £25 million bid rejected by Sheffield United towards the end of the January transfer window. Is Ndiaye’s ongoing drought down to bad finishing? Bad luck? Or, perhaps, the distractions caused by a month of almost sustained transfer speculation?  

In all competitions, for club and country, Ndiaye has just one goal in his last 18 games. Nine of his 10 this season came before November 6^th. 

At least, even when Ndiaye is not scoring, he is still contributing. He mustered five assists in the space of just four games in December. His only goal in the last three-and-a-half months, meanwhile, was a crucial opener in a victory over Stoke City. One which saw Sheffield United take one step closer to promotion. 

If the Blades are a Premier League team again in 2023/24, Ndiaye’s role in securing promotion will be undisputed. Few players in the whole of the Championship possess his fearsome blend of speed, skill, guile and grit. 

Nonetheless, with Sheffield United travelling to play-off chasing Millwall this weekend – and with Middlesbrough breathing down their necks – now would be a fine time for Ndiaye to bring his late-summer surge into the New Year.