Profile
Iliman Ndiaye is listed as a midfielder for Everton and currently costs £6.2m. He opened the game at £6.5m, so managers have seen a £0.3m drop across the campaign. At this price point, Ndiaye sits in the awkward middle ground. He is cheap enough to enable premium-heavy structures, but expensive enough that you still want reliable starts and some route to attacking returns.
From a role perspective, Ndiaye has largely been used as a mobile attacking option rather than a pure creator. His season line of 6 goals and 3 assists supports that. He has offered more goal threat than final-ball volume, which matters in FPL because midfielders are judged heavily on direct returns. With 2511 minutes played and an availability status of a, there is also a useful level of security around his place and fitness heading into the run-in.
This-season output
Ndiaye has produced 122 total points at 4.2 points per game, which is solid rather than explosive. For context, that return profile is perfectly acceptable for a budget-to-midprice midfielder, especially one outside the most heavily backed attacks. His recent output has cooled, though, with a form score of 2.5 over the last five matches. That suggests he is not arriving in peak FPL shape for managers chasing upside late in the season.
Digging into the detail, the output is spread across 6 goals, 3 assists, 8 clean sheets, and 7 bonus points. The bonus total is respectable but not elite, and his 514 BPS indicates he has been involved without consistently dominating matches from an FPL bonus perspective. His ICT Index of 155.2 is another clue to the profile. There is enough attacking activity here to keep him relevant, but not the sort of underlying dominance that would make him an automatic hold or buy.
The key takeaway is that Ndiaye has delivered a decent season for his bracket, but the numbers point more toward a steady squad option than a high-ceiling gamechanger.
Ownership and price journey
Ndiaye is selected by just 4.4% of managers, which makes him a clear differential in overall rank terms. That ownership is low enough to create upside if he returns, but it also tells you the wider market is not fully convinced by his consistency or fixture appeal.
The transfer trend this gameweek leans negative. He has seen 12,842 transfers in but 16,550 transfers out, a net drain that matches the softer recent form and the lack of captaincy appeal. The price fall from £6.5m to £6.2m reinforces the same story. Managers have not completely abandoned him, but they have not treated him as a priority asset either.
That creates an interesting decision point. Low ownership can be useful late in the season, but only if the fixture run gives enough reason to believe returns are close.
Upcoming outlook
Everton’s final three fixtures are mixed but playable. In GW36, Ndiaye travels away to Crystal Palace with an expected points projection of 3.07. In GW37, Everton are at home to Sunderland and that is his best projection of the run at 3.21 xP. In GW38, the trip away to Tottenham carries a similar 3.18 xP.
Those projections are stable, but they are not screaming breakout potential. None of the three gameweeks place him in serious captaincy contention. Even the best fixture, Sunderland at home, looks more like a sensible start in your XI than a week to hand him the armband. If you are Free Hitting or shopping for one-week upside, the community signal around Blank Gameweek 34 reflected that uncertainty, with LetsTalkFPL comparing Wilson vs Ndiaye for Free Hit selection rather than treating Ndiaye as a clear standout. That is usually a sign of a player on the fringe of the conversation, useful, viable, but not essential.
He is more of a complementary pick than a focal one. You can field him with some confidence, especially in GW37, but you should not build your week around him.
Verdict
Watch or own as a budget differential, but fade for captaincy and priority transfers. Ndiaye’s season has been respectable, with 122 points in 2511 minutes, and his low 4.4% ownership gives him differential value. However, the combination of 2.5 form, only 9 attacking returns, and modest xP numbers of 3.07, 3.21, and 3.18 over the final three gameweeks keeps him below the top target tier.
If you already own him, there is no urgent need to sell. If you need a low-owned midfielder around the £6.2m mark, he is viable. But if you are choosing where to spend a transfer for maximum upside, Ndiaye is probably a secondary option rather than the main play.