Al-Hilal Pursues Iliman Ndiaye as Everton Faces Key Exit

Al-Hilal have stepped up their pursuit of Iliman Ndiaye, with the Saudi Pro League giants understood to have agreed personal terms with the Everton playmaker as negotiations over a fee intensify.

The Saudi club have tracked Ndiaye throughout the summer after another standout campaign on Merseyside, and the deal has now moved into a decisive phase. The 26-year-old, signed from Marseille for £15million, has grown into one of the Premier League’s most watchable attackers across his two seasons at Goodison Park. That rise has inevitably come at a cost for Everton.

The club’s stance is clear: they will sell only at a premium.

Ndiaye has made his position just as clear. He is keen to leave and has turned down several new contract offers since the start of the year, pushing the situation towards an almost inevitable separation. With Al-Hilal now in direct talks with Everton, the final obstacle is the size of the cheque, not the player’s willingness to move.

On the Transfer Insider podcast, it was outlined that Al-Hilal have already thrashed out personal terms with the Senegal international and are “trying to progress this deal as soon as possible”. The Saudi side believe they can close, but Everton are digging in over the fee for a player who has delivered 17 goals and three assists in 71 appearances since 2024 and become central to their attacking identity.

For Everton, this is not just another sale. It is a rebuild trigger.

David Moyes, back in the Goodison dugout and already facing the familiar task of reshaping a squad under financial pressure, will need to find another creative spark if Ndiaye departs in this window. The search has already started.

Former club chief Keith Wyness has told Football Insider that Everton are eyeing Bologna’s Jonathan Rowe as a potential replacement. Rowe, an England youth international, comes off an impressive season in Serie A, registering eight goals and four assists in 43 games. He fits the profile: young, dynamic, with room to grow and resale value attached.

The contrast is stark. Ndiaye is the established Premier League star, the player Goodison crowds have come to expect to make something happen when the game drifts. Rowe, if he arrives, would be the next project, asked to fill a sizeable void in a team that cannot afford a misstep in the market.

For now, everything rests on one line in the negotiations: how high Al-Hilal are prepared to go, and how long Everton are willing to hold their nerve.