Ndiaye's former coaches and teammates recalled the story of the new Manchester City signing in an interview with The Athletic. Former Hyde Utd manager David McGurk said that Ndiaye was always the first to arrive at every training session and had to be persuaded to leave afterwards; former teammate Tonge said that Ndiaye's most valuable quality was his humility, politeness, and good manners.

Watching from the dugout at Hyde Utd, six tiers below the Premier League, David McGurk quickly realized the magic in young Ndiaye's feet.

"It was the only time in my coaching career where I stood on the sidelines and simply enjoyed watching a game," McGurk said. "I can only compare the feeling to someone who has coached Messi. Just give him the ball. Our thinking was simple: give the ball to Ndiaye and let him do whatever he wanted."

The story unfolded at Ewen Fields in Greater Manchester, just six miles from the stadium where Ndiaye would make his Manchester City debut that weekend.

"We signed him for just £100 a week plus travel expenses," McGurk recounted, describing how the player, who would later be worth £65 million (US$87.8 million), was playing in the Northern Premier League, England's seventh tier. "We were one of the teams with the lowest budget in the league, with a total weekly wage bill of about £2,200 for 16 players, so we were always looking for available players in the loan market. But signing Ndiaye was almost an accident."

At that time, 19-year-old Ndiaye was playing for Sheffield United's U21 team, when Sheffield United was still a Premier League club. In the middle of the 2019-20 season, McGurk went to a game in Barnsley to scout him.

"He did a step-over, and his dribbling ability was evident, but he didn't contribute much substantively throughout the game," McGurk recalled. "After that, my assistant coach, John McCoombe, went to watch his game and came back to tell me: 'Near the box, this lad is on a completely different level.'"

This leads to a very direct question: how could a semi-professional club negotiate such a loan deal with a Premier League club?

"Sheffield United initially made it clear they didn't want him to drop to our level," McGurk said. "It wasn't until the January 2020 transfer deadline, when Ndiaye had no other options, that we finalized the deal. I was surprised no other teams snapped him up. But the outcome was perfect for us; he joined on loan for the remainder of that season."

Ndiaye was born in Rouen, northern France. He recalled that when he moved to London with his father as a child, he only knew one English word: "rainbow." His father was a dancer and also a talented amateur footballer.

Ndiaye has eight siblings. In his early years, he failed trials at the academies of Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Southampton, and Reading. Last year, in an interview with Everton's official website, he mentioned that his father was told repeatedly that he was too small and wouldn't make it. As a teenager, he joined the non-league team Boreham Wood's academy in North London, and it was this experience that brought him to the attention of Sheffield United.

In old photos that remain, the future Senegalese international is seen wearing Hyde Utd's red training jacket. He wore the number 10 shirt—in this league level, players still use the traditional numbers 1 to 11—and immediately shone.

"From the first training session, everyone could see he was exceptionally talented," said McGurk, who coached Hyde Utd until 2021. "We had a warm-up drill: groups of four or five, continuous keepy-uppies without letting the ball touch the ground, from one end of the pitch to the halfway line. In less than five seconds, Ndiaye had the ball balanced on his head, like a dolphin balancing a ball, running at full speed the whole way."

"Everyone was laughing hysterically, making dolphin noises. We had to add a new rule: 'Everyone has to touch the ball at least once this round.' Everyone touched the ball, it went to Iliman, and he did it again, balancing the ball steadily on his head and jogging back to the start."

The new lad's astonishing moments didn't stop there. "His body control and ball control were simply exceptional," said Liam Tonge, his former teammate at Hyde Utd.

"At our level, when a player gets past the goalkeeper, nine times out of ten they either tap it in gently or blast it. In an intra-squad practice match, Ndiaye got past the goalkeeper and then did shot fake, shot fake, and another shot fake."

"I was the closest defender, desperately tracking back, and that was probably the only time in my career I was faked so hard in training that I sat directly on the ground. The goalkeeper was also rolling on the ground. I was thinking, he's got to end the torment and just score. But it felt like it lasted five minutes. After he had his fun toying with us, he finally chipped it in lightly."

Photo of Ndiaye during his time at Hyde Utd

Visiting Ewen Fields today, the main color inside the stadium is red, which has been Hyde Utd's most common color since the club was founded 107 years ago. But during Ndiaye's time, the stadium looked completely different.

"The stadium was painted blue back then because Manchester City used it as their reserve team's home ground," explained McGurk, who played for Darlington, York City, and Harrogate Town during his career. "Even the roof had Manchester City's sponsor Etihad's logo painted on it. When Ndiaye played here, the entire stadium had Manchester City's visual style."

Ndiaye's debut opponent was Grantham Town, with only 351 spectators present. Hyde Utd won 3-0, and as you might guess, he was the Man of the Match.

"Grantham had a left-back named Joe Skarz, very experienced, nearing the end of his career," McGurk recalled. "After the game, Joe came over and asked me, 'Who is that kid?' Joe was actually still coaching youth at Sheffield United at the time, but he didn't know Ndiaye at all."

"He exclaimed, 'My God. I have to go back and tell the club we've found a genius.' It was after that game that we truly realized how good Ndiaye was. After that, we were convinced no one in the league could stop him. Technically, he was a class above, dribbling past players like they were cones. Although he looked slender, he was very strong in duels, and even big defenders struggled to dispossess him. We went into every game full of confidence because we knew: we had Ndiaye in our team."

Ndiaye made 9 appearances for Hyde Utd before the season was prematurely ended due to the pandemic. Hyde Utd was 10th in the league at the time.

"At our level, the physical intensity is much greater," said Tonge, who now plays for Stalybridge Celtic and works as a teacher. "Everyone could see his exceptional ball skills, so they decided that the only way to stop him was with harsh fouls. He was often swarmed by two or three players. But he handled it calmly; even if he was brought down or crashed into the advertising boards, he would still actively demand the ball and never back down."

Hyde Utd won 6 of the 9 games Ndiaye played. The only drawback was that the young player's "killer instinct" in front of goal still needed refining.

"In our 1-2 away loss to Morpeth," McGurk recalled, "Ndiaye had two one-on-one chances. His dribbling ability was excellent, but he lacked that ruthless finishing touch. I still remember exactly what I told him in the changing room: 'Your football career is destined for greatness. But if you can develop that ruthless finishing, your level will go up another notch.'"

After Ndiaye returned to Sheffield United, his potential was fully realized. With manager Heckingbottom, he consistently scored goals, later moved to Marseille, and then joined Everton in 2024 for £15 million.

But this is not just a story of a talented youngster. His former coaches and teammates also praised his mentality and character. "His most valuable quality is his humility, politeness, and good manners," Tonge said. "He never walked into the changing room thinking: I'm far too good for this league."

McGurk is now the director of tactical analysis platform Tactx. He remembers Ndiaye "was the earliest to arrive at every training session... Many times we had to literally persuade him to leave the training ground. We would tell him: 'Ndiaye, your train leaves in 20 minutes, you need to go if you want to get home.' The stadium lights would turn off on schedule, but he would still be on the dark pitch, the last one to leave."

Hyde Utd's training was scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 7 PM. The loan agreement stated that Ndiaye trained with Sheffield United during the day and did not have to attend all of Hyde Utd's training sessions. But he would always arrive an hour early, at 6 PM. He couldn't drive, so he would take the train from Sheffield every time.

"For young players from professional clubs loaned to lower leagues, the outcome is often hit or miss," said McGurk, calling Ndiaye the most talented player he ever coached. "But Ndiaye quickly integrated into the team. Even if you put him in a five-a-side pickup game with a group of 60-year-olds, he'd fit right in. Because he loves football and just wants to play."

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