From Ewen Fields to the Etihad: The meteoric rise of Iliman Ndiaye

Six years ago, Iliman Ndiaye had just netted his first goal for Hyde United in a 3-1 win over Matlock Town, the day after his 20th birthday. 

Today, the now 26-year-old finds himself at the summit of English football, having completed a £65m deadline day switch to Premier League giants Manchester City. 

The Senegalese winger joins from Everton after two impressive seasons, as the Blues continue their post-Guardiola rebuild. 

First joining the Tigers on loan from Sheffield United in 2019, the silky forward went on to make nine appearances for the club, before the COVID-19 pandemic brought the season to an early end. 

And while there won’t have been many who predicted quite such a meteoric rise back then, there were certainly promising signs from the moment he set foot into Ewen Fields. 

Just ask Stalybridge Celtic captain Liam Tongue, who played with Ndiaye during his time with the Tigers. 

“If you spoke to anyone from that squad, they’d probably go as far as saying he’s the best player they’ve ever played with,” revealed the former Hyde midfielder when speaking to the Reporter. 

“Even in the first game, you could just see he had a bit about him. He just did stuff with a football that most of us would only ever dream of. 

“I remember him just balancing the ball on his head at times, and he sat me down a couple of times in training. 

“It was just one of those freak loans where someone comes in, and you can just tell they’re miles ahead of everyone else they’re playing against.” 

Though Ndiaye’s natural talent was there for all to see from an early age, Tongue believes his mentality is what separated him from the rest. 

“Being a pro footballer coming down into non-League, sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. 

“But he was always really down to earth, really humble and he got stuck into it from the very first training session. 

“You just knew that he was going to go on to play at a very good level, and it just goes to show that the amount of work he’s put in from being a young kid has paid off. 

“It’s probably helped him being in and around a non-League environment, where teams were just looking to go and kick him. 

“And it would've been scary to see his stats in terms of goals and assists if he had a full season with us.” 

And while his journey from the seventh tier of English football to the Premier League is a rare one, Tongue believes it is a great example of what can be achieved. 

“It’s a great advert for non-League,” the 29-year-old told the Reporter. 

“You can see it happening more and more now with non-League lads going into the pro game.  

“The gap between the higher levels of non-League and the professional game is slowly being bridged now. 

“And it just goes to show that it doesn’t matter what level you’re playing at, it only takes one person to be watching, and you never know where that will take you. 

“But the great thing to see is that the things he was doing in our training sessions, in terms of skills and tricks, he’s now doing in the Premier League.  

“He’s not changed the way he plays or approaches games, he’s just become a better version of the person he was when he came to Hyde – it's fantastic to see.”