Iliman Ndiaye signed for Manchester City this week for around £65 million. Six years ago, I signed him for Hyde United on £100 a week.
Full story's in the blog, but the short version: he was a squad player in Sheffield United's under-21s, we picked him up on loan on transfer deadline day because he'd run out of other options that January, and by the end of his first training session my assistant and I both knew we had something different.
There's a moment from that first night I still bring up. A skill game, groups of four or five meant to be keeping the ball up together on the way to a target on the halfway line. Ndiaye just scoops it onto his own head and sprints the length of half the pitch with it balanced there, drops it in the target, jogs back for another go. His group were in stitches making dolphin noises at him for the rest of the session.
Nine games, one goal, season cut short by the pandemic. Not a stat line that predicts £65 million. But watching him week to week, you knew. Scanning, supporting, securing the ball under pressure, all miles above the level. Supply was the part that had to catch up, and once it did, here we are.
Full story here: https://tactxcoach.com/blog/i-signed-iliman-ndiaye-for-100-a-week
