City's Deadline Day pivot revealed
Manchester City's move for Iliman Ndiaye was never the first choice. Before the Senegal international walked through the door on Deadline Day, the club had tested Liverpool's resolve with an £80m offer for Cody Gakpo. The answer, delivered on Monday, was a firm no.
According to Sky Sports, the Anfield side were unwilling to let the Netherlands international leave so late in the window, worried about the prospect of sourcing a replacement at such short notice. City, for their part, had been prepared to go as high as £80m. It wasn't enough.
The rejection sent City's recruitment team back to a conversation already in progress. They had been in contact with Everton over Jack Grealish, who was heading back to Merseyside on a season-long loan in a separate transaction. With those lines of communication already open, attention turned swiftly to Ndiaye.
Talks accelerated, and by the close of Deadline Day a deal was done: £60m plus a further £5m in potential bonuses, with the 26-year-old signing a five-year contract. City had their winger, even if the route there was rather more winding than planned.
A squad stripped of width
The urgency was understandable. Enzo Maresca had watched his wide options dwindle alarmingly over the course of the window. Savinho and Omar Marmoush had departed for Tottenham, and Grealish was following them out of the door, albeit in the opposite direction and on loan.
Such was the shortage that City did not name a single winger among their substitutes for Friday night's 4-1 win at Crystal Palace. Maresca admitted after that game that Phil Foden, who started out wide, isn't naturally a winger. Needs must, and all that.
Ndiaye, at least, believes he fits the bill. After completing the move, he described City as the "perfect fit", explaining that he enjoys playing with the ball on the floor in an attacking team. Which is handy, really, given the alternatives were an £80m rejection and a winger-shaped hole in the squad.