CONFIRMED Iliman Ndiaye to Marseille

[Lord Eddard Muir]

Surely it would be Marseille announcing the signing? United would only follow up wishing him well after that?

Yes it would. Still taking forever if he's already agreed terms and had the medical, you would assume, yesterday morning.

 

[Ricardo Mantelban]

Can’t wait to hear Hecky’s thoughts on the saga.

 

[CrookesBlade]

Sorted his contract situation out 18 months ago when it became clear that he was a star in the making who just needed some physical conditioning to get through 90 mins.
I'm fine with the fact that we took the only course of action NOW, it's just that the previous 18 months of financial mismanagement have led us to a point where Ndiaye is the first player of around 15 who are likely to leave us either in the last year of their contract, or even worse, walk for free at the end of their contract. It smacks of mismanagement and a lack of direction.

With the contract business though he signed a new one in September 21 which put him on decent money for a kid who’d only played a few minutes.

We could have offered him a contract at the end of that season but for all anyone knew he may not have kicked on. We already had a few players crocked and for all we knew we could have had a kid sat on his arse earning decent money that we’ve committed to for another 3/4 seasons (Brewster essentially). He’d had injury problems and struggled to complete 60 minutes.

He improved off the back of that first season at a rate nobody could have foreseen and by Xmas it was already public knowledge he wouldn’t be signing another one as his “entourage” had other plans for him.

Any “mismanagement” comes down to the fact that there isn’t the money to do what we think we should be doing (getting players tied down, investing in proven PL quality) which is a result of the largesse under Wilder which at the time most supporters would have demanded.

 

[Davalon]

I agree we need some positive news soon on the incoming front. Trusty alone won't be enough.

Yeah we've got 4 weeks but I'm dreading the reaction if we don't see much movement before mid August and we lose to Palace and then get absolutely rolled over at the scabs.

 

[Houston_Blade]

With the contract business though he signed a new one in September 21 which put him on decent money for a kid who’d only played a few minutes.

We could have offered him a contract at the end of that season but for all anyone knew he may not have kicked on. We already had a few players crocked and for all we knew we could have had a kid sat on his arse earning decent money that we’ve committed to for another 3/4 seasons (Brewster essentially). He’d had injury problems and struggled to complete 60 minutes.

He improved off the back of that first season at a rate nobody could have foreseen and by Xmas it was already public knowledge he wouldn’t be signing another one as his “entourage” had other plans for him.

Any “mismanagement” comes down to the fact that there isn’t the money to do what we think we should be doing (getting players tied down, investing in proven PL quality) which is a result of the largesse under Wilder which at the time most supporters would have demanded.

You can’t blame financial mismanagement on Wilder, he didn’t sign the cheques. He made some poor and costly signings but the financial side is not Wilder’s domain.

I get the point on Ndiaye’s contract situation but him and MGW were a very good combination so it wasn’t just last season. A top Championship player on a reported £4k a week is a paltry sum. We could have easily doubled or trebled it and tied him down until 2025, then if he wants to go to Marseille we get what he’s worth and not sub £20m.

 

[jono_t2000]

I think the problem with contracts including Ndiaye as others have alluded to was the mucking around with whether being sold or not sold.

Pricey half expected us to be sold and the new incoming owner deal with it.

 

[bertieblade]

Wilder made it known he would walk if he did not get support from the Prince, effectively black mailing him.
how many times do people need telling that ndiaye agent would not negotiate a new contract as it did not suit his plans to make more money for himself and in theory his client. You can offer all sorts of contracts but unless the other party are prepared to sign it is useless

 

[mattbianco1]

I agree we need some positive news soon on the incoming front. Trusty alone won't be enough.

Trusty, Tillman and Souza would be a big statement from us.

That Tillman looks absolutely class - can't see anything but a loan on that one

 

[Davalon]

Trusty, Tillman and Souza would be a big statement from us.

That Tillman looks absolutely class - can't see anything but a loan on that one

Yeah I'd agree that would lower plenty of pitchforks.

I'd certainly be satisfied.

Still need a couple more on top though imho.

 

[mattbianco1]

Yeah I'd agree that would lower plenty of pitchforks.

I'd certainly be satisfied.

Still need a couple more on top though imho.

A top quality striker on loan

 

[Greg.]

The fucking replies to the Everton tickets tweet. We should pull the plug for that alone.

Just looked, it's literally all OM fans, crazy

 

[brownblade]

Can’t wait to hear Hecky’s thoughts on the saga.

I'll take a guess: "Listen... We wanted Iliman to stay, but we wish him luck. Listen... We've got to keep working and preparing. (Face/Forehead wipe) We've got to be at our best this season and we need a few more bodies to be competitive. But listen... Everyone at this club will give it their all."

 

[Davalon]

Just looked, it's literally all OM fans, crazy

United should close comments to their socials for a while imho.

 

[CoatesyBlade]

Trusty, Tillman and Souza would be a big statement from us.

That Tillman looks absolutely class - can't see anything but a loan on that one

I think Trusty will come which is great for our LCB issues. I think Souza may come, but it'll be at the expense of signing Doyle which I'm not sold on personally. Tillman doesn't look likely as it appears several other clubs are in for him (hope I'm wrong cos that's the 1 out of the 3 that would lift the place)
So possibly 2/3 is how it's looking... and then as mentioned... that's just a start we need more!

 

[Balham]

OM fans are an odd bunch. Other than being stripped of a Champions League title all that springs to mind is being perennial runners up in a league that is on a par with the Championship.

Not condoning their fans' actions but they weren't stripped of the European Cup. They were stripped of the Ligue Une title they won in the same season as a result of matchfixing in their final league game and were banned from Europe the following season. This means they are the only team to not be granted the opportunity to defend their European title.

 

[Chingo]

Sorted his contract situation out 18 months ago when it became clear that he was a star in the making who just needed some physical conditioning to get through 90 mins.
I'm fine with the fact that we took the only course of action NOW, it's just that the previous 18 months of financial mismanagement have led us to a point where Ndiaye is the first player of around 15 who are likely to leave us either in the last year of their contract, or even worse, walk for free at the end of their contract. It smacks of mismanagement and a lack of direction.

So what do you think we should have offered him 18 months ago?

 

[Thrice]

Is he available?

He is, but he retired a month ago.
He played until his mid 40's which surprised me because he almost retired after his Leverkusen spell. His career is one of the biggest 'what ifs' for me in football. He had all the talent in the world. Pavel Nedved called him more talented than Rosicky. But he became an alcoholic and had a gambling problem.

 

[Houston_Blade]

So what do you think we should have offered him 18 months ago?

A contract beyond the end of this season, go back even further and we should have put a 1 or 2 year club extension option in the one that he was actually on.

 

[CaptainMorgans]

I don't really have a problem with Ndiaye in the airport videos. It's not like he asked all the fans to turn out for him. Put yourself in his shoes and you get off the plane to sign for your boyhood club. Your lifetime dream is about to come true. I'd be smiling too if I was met by that. It's amazing scenes for the lad and flattering for him. So what if he's wearing a Marseille scarf, he's about to sign for them, the club he supports. What was he supposed to do, fly out there in full Sheffield United kit and only take it off when the ink dries on the Marseille contract? He's hardly going to look grumpy, ignore them all and tell them to sod off as he's still a United player. Get a grip.

Put the shoe on the foot and imagine if we did this to Sharp when he signed for us from Scunthorpe or Leeds. Do you think we'd give a toss what their fans thought of it? No we wouldn't. So let's not be hypocrites about this. We lauded having Chris Wilder as our manager with Sharp as our captain. We revelled in it. We loved it.

It cheered me up seeing the greeting Ndiaye got. He's not left us to go to a Forest, or Palace, he's gone home to his boyhood club.
This is fairytale stuff for him and his family.

He gave us a couple of great years and it's sad we couldn't get one more out of it.
I don't agree with the decision to sell him, but there are some positives to be taken out of it...

If, like me, you don't give us much chance this season with or without Ndiaye, then at least we've got some money in to reinvest for next season and at least Ndiaye hasn't gone to a rival. I'll enjoy watching how his career develops.

 

[bertieblade]

A contract beyond the end of this season, go back even further and we should have put a 1 or 2 year club extension option in the one that he was actually on.

I think you will find they offered that and more BUT HE WOULD NOT SIGN, GOT IT!

 

[CoatesyBlade]

He is, but he retired a month ago.
He played until his mid 40's which surprised me because he almost retired after his Leverkusen spell. His career is one of the biggest 'what ifs' for me in football. He had all the talent in the world. Pavel Nedved called him more talented than Rosicky. But he became an alcoholic and had a gambling problem.

Bloody hell! I've never been more 'sold' on a player... gerrim in!!
Seriously though... thanks for sharing, he sounds like a bit of a maverick and I love a story like that!

 

[Chingo]

You can’t blame financial mismanagement on Wilder, he didn’t sign the cheques. He made some poor and costly signings but the financial side is not Wilder’s domain.

I get the point on Ndiaye’s contract situation but him and MGW were a very good combination so it wasn’t just last season. A top Championship player on a reported £4k a week is a paltry sum. We could have easily doubled or trebled it and tied him down until 2025, then if he wants to go to Marseille we get what he’s worth and not sub £20m.

Hecky said a few times over the last 18 months that Illimans representatives would not sit down and discuss a new contract

 

[ISZA ⚔️]

You never know with the shirecliffe sniper. They may have travelled on the flight to France.

More likely we invited Ndiaye to the snipers house …

 

[Macfarlane21]

Just looked, it's literally all OM fans, crazy

They are definitely enjoying rubbing our faces in it. Not surprised there have been no posts on our main pages

 

[Houston_Blade]

I think you will find they offered that and more BUT HE WOULD NOT SIGN, GOT IT!

I'm fully aware that we've recently offered Ndiaye a new contract, you've completely misunderstood the point though, I've said that we shouldn't have let it get to the final year before we started negotiating. The power was completely with Ndiaye in this situation and we made it easy for Marseille to come in with a low-ish offer and take him.

I'm talking about being proactive and tying him down beyond Jun 2024 when we realised he was an excellent footballer.

 

[Houston_Blade]

Hecky said a few times over the last 18 months that Illimans representatives would not sit down and discuss a new contract

I'm pretty sure he's only started saying that since the last JTW but if I'm wrong then I'll self-flagellate.

 

[bertieblade]

Suggest you go to a dark room, whilst there listen to Hecky interviews throughout the last 18 months ( possibly longer ) and you will hear that we offered to sit down and discuss a new contract time and again but his representatives would not entertain it.

n.b. Please send photos

 

[Stretch]

All joking apart United's twitter feeds could be basically knackered for a good while now being trolled to death by these cunts.

Yep. I think they might even have to lock tweets from replies if this carries on.

 

[ISZA ⚔️]

It cheered me up seeing the greeting Ndiaye got. He's not left us to go to a Forest, or Palace, he's gone home to his boyhood club.
This is fairytale stuff for him and his family.

He gave us a couple of great years and it's sad we couldn't get one more out of it.
I don't agree with the decision to sell him, but there are some positives to be taken out of it...

If, like me, you don't give us much chance this season with or without Ndiaye, then at least we've got some money in to reinvest for next season and at least Ndiaye hasn't gone to a rival. I'll enjoy watching how his career develops.

Whilst I would stop at “cheered me up” I do think Ndiaye really did become a Blade. Like, properly. And the fact his boyhood club - who he has spoken out about wanting to play for - came calling and he very nearly rejected them to stay with us brings me a very very very very small crumb of comfort.

But then I get annoyed because he fucked us.

 

[finlaytheblade]

I'm gutted Iliman is leaving, but some of the bitter remarks just make us look silly.

He absolutely didn't down tools or have a a bad attitude. He just changed his mind/made a decision to move. Happens a thousand times every summer transfer window.

Wish the lad luck at the club he supports, hopefully he'll have a long glorious career.

I'll never forget how good he was for us. Helped us get promoted when we badly needed (HAD) to get promoted.

He has been great for us!He is now under real pressure to deliver! there fan's greeting him like a god. Hopefully he can cope with this pressure he has now', this was not evident when at the Blades! It will be an interesting side issue.