Asked whether he was surprised that Everton faced little competition to sign Ndiaye on his return to English football – despite his qualities having first shone through at Sheffield United – Gray added: “Well, that’s the way it goes. I mean, if you do your recruiting job correctly. And it was a special case, because he was a bit of a talk of the town, yes, in a team that was really, really in difficulty. But no one, I don’t know why, what they saw and what they didn’t like about him. I don’t know, but it worked in Everton’s favor, so we’re not going to complain. »
Everton have Ndiaye under contract until 2029, so the club are not under pressure to sell him. If he were to be open to offers, however, there is a good chance he would make a considerable profit on the French-born winger.
Asked if he could generate a transfer four times the size of the one that brought him to Merseyside, Gray said of the asking price for Ndiaye: “Easy, easy, easy, easy. I’ll tell you what you want to know: he’s a player on the field. I think money in the bank doesn’t move you up the rankings. It may allow you to buy new players, but what are you losing? You lose a very good player who is an extremely important part of the team.
“Defensively, okay, we can get by. If we sell defenders, I still think we can bring in other players who can defend and teach them, but the talent he has is very difficult to replicate and teach. He’s just a natural and talented footballer, so trying to replicate that, even with an extra £60-70 million, is going to be very difficult. Then you have to encourage someone else to come, which is never easy. »
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