There are still strong transfer rumours linking Iliman Ndiaye to his boyhood club Olympique Marseille, but the 23-year-old remains focused on his football as seen in last night’s 1-0 defeat to Rotherham United.
Before the game, a report from Alan Nixon stated that it’s “crunch time”, with the Senegalese star supposedly reopening talks with the French club after a breakdown in contract talks with the Blades.
The issue around the contract extension is not wages related, United want to inject a release clause into his new deal, but Ndiaye wants the number lowered. The report from Nixon claims that Sheffield United are asking for £15m for their star player.
Having said that, Ndiaye is still committed to the cause at his current team and United’s assistant manager commented on the circulating rumours surrounding the player’s departure:
“Listen, he’s 100% committed here. Every day he comes in with a smile on his face and if you saw training yesterday, he was laughing and joking about the place.
“liman’s the type of kid that just loves football, whether it’s here or training or wherever. He’ll just get his head down until anything different happens. He’s our player, and we’ve got no worries about his mentality to approach the game. No worries at all. Hopefully, he’ll still be a Blade come the end of the window.” [The Star]
Sheffield United have a behind-closed-doors friendly against Girona this afternoon, and then they will face Derby County on Saturday. If the Senegal international is not involved in Saturday’s game then it would probably spell the end of Ndiaye’s time in the red and white shirt.