Sheffield United fans won’t rest easy until there is a signature on a new contract from Iliman Ndiaye.
A topsy turvy few weeks have seen Ndiaye first linked with a big move to Marseille. A five year contract has reportedly been ‘agreed’ and it looked like the Senegalese star would be off.
However, since then, there’s been a refute to those claims from Paul Heckingbottom with the same sources in France suggesting the deal is off as well.
But last night, French outlet L’Equipe has claimed that Marseille’s move for Ndiaye could now be back on.
The claim that Ndiaye is still struggling to make a final decision and that there is a feeling from the player that he has rushed into deciding to remain at Bramall Lane.
Despite moving to sign Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Marseille are believed to have established contact again with Ndiaye’s agents and are pushing for the move.
Of course, United need to accept a bid from the Ligue 1 side and so far, they’ve come nowhere near to meeting a price the Blades board will even entertain.
Ndiaye is currently out in Portugal with United. Local journalist Nathan Hemmingham had claimed yesterday that there was a growing belief in the camp that the forward would sign a new deal. However, once again, French reports seem to think different.
Sheffield United News View: Agents are pushing this one
Somewhere in the chain here, Ndiaye’s agents, or someone close to those agents, are pushing stories out to the French media. It is the only explanation.
The player himself isn’t pushing to move and Paul Heckingbottom was calm over his future just a few days ago.
Marseille might still want to sign Ndiaye but that could be the case the entire window. They still need to pay for him and until United accept a bid, nothing is going to happen.
However, United do need to crack on with this contract and get it sorted. Pay Ndiaye the money, put a release clause in, and move on. Failure to do so will end badly and only serve to dominate the rest of the window.