Iliman Ndiaye’s Marseille transfer leaves Sheffield United sense of what could have been
Blades fans conflicted after Ndiaye’s sale to Marseille
The day that Sheffield United fans have dreaded since the start of the summer, and well before, is finally upon us, as the Blades face up to life without their star man Iliman Ndiaye.
With less than two weeks until the start of the new Premier League season, the timing could hardly be worse; the task, of replacing a player pretty much irreplaceable, a mammoth one. Unless United’s recruitment staff pull pound-for-pound the biggest rabbit out of the hat in history, it simply will not happen.
As Ndiaye settles into life at his new club and the Blades look to somehow move on, many questions persist and a lot of Unitedites seem genuinely conflicted; grateful for the memories, thankful to have seen a generational talent in their colors, upset at his departure. Especially the way it was engineered.
Around two weeks earlier Ndiaye was staying at United. A statement new deal had been agreed upon, Paul Heckingbottom and Stephen Bettis had spoken of their delight, the No.10 shirt was Ndiaye’s. The player himself even enthusiastically took part in a video to announce the news. He was buzzing.
The final piece of the jigsaw was all that was missing; his signature on the paper. A scribble that would have made him an infinitely richer young man, cemented his place in United folklore, given the Blades welcome security over his future. But it never came and United reluctantly entered into negotiations with Marseille when they received a message informing them that the player would like to make the move.
Although the fee was above the £14m reported in the French media it is still a fraction of Ndiaye’s true worth if he wasn’t set to become a free agent next summer. Views and opinions differ on United’s approach – whether they were right to take the money, should they have rolled the dice by keeping Ndiaye for another year in a bid to stay up, how the club has got themselves in a position where so many of their prized assets could walk away for free at one time – there is surely no doubt that this Blades side going into the Premier League, as it stands, is significantly weaker than the one that got them there.
With Ndiaye gone, so has the X-factor that many felt could have made the difference in a league of tight margins. Tommy Doyle has not yet been replaced and although Anis Slimane has shown promising signs so far, there are no guarantees, in his first season in English football and, by Heckingbottom’s admission far from the finished article, that he will be able to have a similar impact as James McAtee last term.
The departures of Billy Sharp, Jack O’Connell, and Enda Stevens have left a gaping crater in the dressing room and left big pressure on the remaining senior players to preserve the club’s culture, Benie Traore is still to make his Blades debut after delays over his visa, Oli McBurnie is injured. As it stands, at least one of United’s teenage strikers, Daniel Jebbison and Will Osula, look like getting their chance on the opening day against Crystal Palace.
Ndiaye’s farewell statement, posted on his Instagram account this afternoon, was typical of his humility and class as a person. Hardworking and humble, not many at Bramall Lane – if any – will have anything but good things to say about Ndiaye from their time working together. He didn’t do many media interviews, genuinely not looking to hog the limelight, but was always pleasant with a smile and a handshake away from the cameras. Teammate Oli McBurnie described him as a special person and a special player this afternoon and few can profess to know him better. The best tribute I can pay is that, in our admittedly limited dealings, Ndiaye was as impressive away from the field as he was on it. Which says a great deal.
Arguably the biggest shame of all is that Unitedites have been robbed of the chance of seeing Ndiaye grace the Premier League in their colors, even if only for a season. His mesmerizing goal against Tottenham Hotspur last season in the FA Cup gave a glimpse of what we all hoped was to come and with him in the side, there always seemed a chance of something from nothing. Recreating that spark from elsewhere, in a division as competitive as the Premier League, will surely be the biggest challenge now for Heckingbottom and Co.
At the same time, fan favorites have departed before and life went on. The globe kept on spinning. Youngsters – and some adults, it should be said – now understand how their forefathers felt when Tony Currie went to Leeds when Brian Deane trod the same path some years later. Just as it is a sad fact that all life must end in death, there will be a moment when your favorite footballer no longer pulls on the shirt of your club.
But there was a club before Ndiaye, there will be a club after him. His legacy may have been tarnished in the eyes of some but others will remember the moments. Not even just the goals, even those mazy runs against Fulham and Blackburn and Spurs, but those times when the young man they christened Skillman did things that seemed scarcely believable. As Chris Wilder used to say, a big block or tackle will sometimes get a bigger cheer than a goal at Bramall Lane but growing up, it is the kind of stuff Ndiaye did with a football that really captures the imagination.
Perhaps with the passage of time, some will forgive and forget, appreciating the best player of a generation for what he did while he was here rather than how he left. Others, yours truly included, will just wonder what could have been. As the old saying goes: ’tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.
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