Liverpool's Transfer Dilemma: Direct Talks Over Iliman Ndiaye
Liverpool are running out of summer. And the transfer window is starting to sound like a ticking clock around Anfield.
Andoni Iraola has three new faces through the door, but everyone can see it: this squad still looks two, maybe three signings short of a genuine Premier League title push. The departures and injuries have bitten hard in attack, and with the deadline closing in, it’s now decision time.
The club’s recruitment team, led by Richard Hughes, has circled a cluster of attacking targets. Bradley Barcola and Ibrahim Mbaye are the closest to landing on Merseyside, yet neither deal is at the finish line. No fees agreed, no personal terms settled. Nothing signed, nothing guaranteed.
Liverpool know that story too well. The Yan Diomande pursuit earlier in the summer fizzled out, and there’s little appetite at Anfield to be left scrambling again if Plan A collapses.
So the latest development carries real intrigue.
Liverpool open ‘direct talks’ over Iliman Ndiaye
According to Caught Offside, Liverpool have held “direct talks” with the representatives of Everton forward Iliman Ndiaye about a potential move. On paper, it sounds almost unthinkable. Liverpool and Everton simply do not do big business with each other.
Yet the report insists the interest is “genuine”, even if the motivation behind it remains unclear. It could be insurance in case Barcola proves too difficult to prise away. It could be a tactical move to put pressure on PSG to soften their stance over the Frenchman’s fee. It could be both.
What is clear is that people close to the situation believe Liverpool have stepped beyond mere admiration. They have engaged with those around Ndiaye, opening the door to what would be one of the most controversial transfers in recent Merseyside history.
The timing is no coincidence. Mohamed Salah has gone. Hugo Ekitike is sidelined. For a club that has built its recent identity on relentless attacking depth, the front line suddenly looks thin. Iraola needs another weapon. Possibly two.
A rare Merseyside crossing?
Any deal with Everton would come at a brutal premium. The same report claims the Toffees have set a £75 million price tag for the Senegal international. And that figure is only the starting point for Liverpool. Selling across Stanley Park would demand a number that makes resistance impossible.
Ndiaye’s appeal is obvious. He can operate off either wing or as a No.10, and he already carries a solid bank of Premier League minutes. That versatility would give Iraola options across his front line and in the pockets behind the striker.
He is not Salah. No one at Liverpool is pretending otherwise. But nine goal contributions last season hint at a player on an upward curve, one who could grow into a major role rather than walk in as a ready-made superstar.
The problem? Liverpool are not alone.
Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal are all mentioned as potential suitors, and those clubs would not face the same emotional and political barriers Everton would feel in selling to Anfield. If the bidding climbs beyond £100 million, as suggested in the report in reference to what David Moyes might demand for a 26-year-old of that profile, Liverpool’s stance becomes simple: they walk away.
That is why this link feels so wild, and yet so compelling. The odds are stacked against it. The rivalry, the price, the competition. But the fact Liverpool are even in the conversation for Ndiaye underlines how aggressively they are probing the market for attacking solutions.
They cannot afford another window of hesitation. If Barcola drags on, if Mbaye stalls, if other targets slip away, Liverpool will need a decisive swing. Whether that ends with a shock raid on Everton or a late pivot elsewhere could define the shape of Iraola’s first season — and how serious this new Liverpool really are about chasing the title.
