Tottenham Hotspur have reached an agreement in principle to sign Iliman Ndiaye from Everton, with Richarlison heading back to the Merseyside club.
Sources at both clubs, speaking anonymously as they were not authorised to do so publicly, say the moves for Ndiaye and Richarlison are separate and not linked. The deals are subject to personal terms and medicals.
The Athletic reported on Thursday that Manchester City had shown interest in Ndiaye, with Everton keen on a deal which would see a return for Jack Grealish, who spent last season on loan at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
City, though, are now in talks to sign Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo, with the Netherlands international expressing his desire to join Enzo Maresca’s side.
Tottenham had also been interested in a move for Gakpo this summer as they sought to strengthen their forward line, but the 27-year-old opted against a move to north London in favour of City.
Ndiaye declined multiple new contract offers last season with three years left on his existing Everton terms, and The Athletic reported on June 2 that the club were facing a fight to keep hold of the player with expected interest over the summer.
Club sources maintain that Ndiaye has behaved professionally throughout the summer. The Senegal international started Everton’s first three matches of the season, and recorded an assist in the season-opening 2-0 win against Crystal Palace.
Ndiaye joined Everton from Marseille in 2024 for a fee of £15million (€17.7m, $19m). He has scored 17 goals and provided four assists in 73 games for the club.
Richarlison, meanwhile, joined Tottenham from Everton in the summer of 2022 in a deal worth up to £60m. The 29-year-old Brazilian has scored 32 goals in 134 appearances for Tottenham, having previously registered 53 goals in 152 games for Everton.
Tottenham head coach Roberto De Zerbi said after his side’s 2-0 loss against Newcastle United on Saturday that Richarlison, as well as Kevin Danso and Pape Matar Sarr, had been left of the matchday squad because he had asked to leave in the final days of this transfer window. Richarlison was Spurs’ top scorer in the Premier League last term with 11 goals and had started the opening-day defeat at Brentford.
Ndiaye arrival would complete Spurs’ attacking overhaul
Analysis by Tottenham correspondent Jay Harris
Spurs deserve credit for pivoting to Ndiaye so quickly after missing out on Gakpo. He would be the ninth signing of a wild summer spending spree.
Mathys Tel has been Tottenham’s first-choice left winger under De Zerbi. The 20-year-old has shown flashes of brilliance but is inconsistent. Tel has only scored seven times in 61 appearances for Spurs since he joined them, initially on loan before the deal was made permanent, from Bayern Munich in January 2025. At the beginning of last season, Tel competed for the role with his France Under-21 international team-mate Wilson Odobert. The latter suffered an ACL injury in February and is unlikely to play anytime soon.
Ndiaye’s arrival would complete the overhaul of Tottenham’s front line and their entire starting XI. In their opening game against Brentford, Spurs looked lightweight upfront but they are about to have a wealth of attacking options, including Dominic Solanke and Mohammed Kudus, who have both recently returned from injury.
Ndiaye could line up at Spurs alongside fellow new signings Omar Marmoush and Savio in De Zerbi’s preferred 4-2-3-1 system. The Senegalese would provide proven quality out wide and has the potential to become even better. Ndiaye scored 15 times in 67 top-flight appearances for Everton.
Richarlison will go down as a cult hero for Spurs who never lived up to expectations. The Brazilian’s four-year spell in north London was wrecked by injuries. He started playing alongside Harry Kane and was then, unfairly, given the burden of replacing Tottenham’s all-time top goalscorer. De Zerbi stated on multiple occasions that Richarlison wants to leave and it looks like he is finally going to get his wish and return to the club where he produced the best form of his career.
Everton gambling on Richarlison
Analysis by football writer Jacob Whitehead
It would be an emotional return for Richarlison and Everton — but as Ndiaye completes his move to Tottenham, it initially appears unlikely that the club have improved in the short term.
Ndiaye is Everton’s key creative outlet — a player with the ability to win one-vs-one battles, create chances, and turn a game from nothing. His chemistry with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall last campaign was a major part of the club’s early season success.
Everton, however, have been bracing themselves for the Senegalese winger’s exit for much of the summer, Ndiaye having declined multiple contract offers to remain at the club. The recruitment of Tyrique George on the left wing, whose ability in one-vs-one duels may replace some of Ndiaye’s load, could prove significant.
There is an irony that Ndiaye effectively replaced Richarlison as the scorer of the most significant goals in Everton’s recent history — the final goal at Goodison Park, the first at the Hill Dickinson — only for the pair to once again swap places.
As the player that largely saved Everton from relegation in 2021-22, whose big-hearted affection for the club left him face down, pounding on the turf after their 3-2 win over Crystal Palace that season in his final game for the club, Richarlison has enormous cachet with supporters. The Brazilian’s return will be popular, despite his up-and-down form for Tottenham over the last four years, much of that period heavily affected by injuries.
His role, however, is much less certain. Thierno Barry has begun the season well as Everton’s starting striker, with the club keen to continue investing in the 23-year-old’s development.
Richarlison has generally played through the middle for Spurs, but Ndiaye’s departure leaves a hole on the right wing, with David Moyes seemingly unwilling to furnish Tyler Dibling, signed last summer from Southampton in a £42m deal, with regular starting minutes.
Everton need to replace Ndiaye’s goal contributions from somewhere, however — they are gambling that the emotional heft of Richarlison’s return will see him rediscover his career-best form.