Iliman Ndiaye Scout Report At Manchester City 2026/2027: How Does The €70m Signing Suit Enzo Maresca Tactics? - Player Analysis
The departure of Pep Guardiola has ushered Manchester City into a new era.
Guardiola, who joined City in 2016, left the club after a decade at the helm where he won six Premier League titles, three FA Cup titles and the much-coveted UEFA Champions League.
Before leaving the club, Guardiola handed the reins over to his former assistant and ex-Chelsea boss, Enzo Maresca.
The Italian coach has been handed the tough task of rebuilding Man City after the departures of stalwarts such as Rodri to Barcelona and Bernardo Silva to Real Madrid.
Along with the signings of Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest, Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille and Enzo Fernández from his own former club, Chelsea, Maresca welcomed Iliman Ndiaye to the Etihad for a reported €70m from Everton.
In this Iliman Ndiaye scout report and player analysis, we examine Ndiaye's tactical fit for Maresca and his statistical profile, along with a comparison to his new Manchester City teammates.
Iliman Ndiaye Style Of Play In Possession
Maresca uses a 3-2-5 system when City are in possession.
This requires the wingers to stay wide, which allows City to stretch the opposition horizontally, as seen in Figure 1.
At Everton, Ndaiye had a tendency to hug the touchline whenever the opposition would block the central passing lanes.
This tendency would tie in well with Maresca's in-possession tactics.
The wingers also look to occupy the opposition's last line of defence and pin the defence back, creating space between the lines for City defenders to occupy.
Ndiaye would be a tactical match as he looks to always play on the shoulder of the opposition's wing-back/full-back, either looking to pin the defender back or make runs into the space behind the defence.
Ndiaye's strength is his ability to take on opposition defenders in 1v1 situations, as seen in the clip below, and beat them.
With a secure first touch and quick lane shifts with the inside of his foot, Ndiaye is able to manipulate defenders at ease.
