Everton are brewing their own homegrown Ndiaye in “fantastic” teen talent

da 888casino： Everton battled well at Anfield on Saturday, but – unfortunately – the unbelievable quality of Arne Slot’s Reds in attacking positions would be the Toffees’ undoing in the Merseyside Derby.

da lvbet： Hugo Ekitike – who cost a bumper £79m to sign – would gift his new Premier League employers a two-goal cushion in the first half with a calm finish under pressure, with Ryan Gravenberch also opening the scoring in style with a first-time finish that beat the usually formidable Jordan Pickford.

Idrissa Gueye would try to get David Moyes’ men back into the contest with a late long-range effort, but the damage had already been done at a rain-soaked Anfield.

Iliman Ndiaye would set up the 35-year-old for that consolation strike, with the former Marseille attacker standing out once more, even if his Toffees side were largely second best in the overall clash.

Why Ndiaye is so important to Everton

Indeed, while the likes of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Beto faded into the background versus the Reds, Ndiaye was a vibrant livewire throughout for Moyes’ underdogs.

Staggeringly, away from assisting Gueye’s second-half effort, the gung-ho 25-year-old would also come away from his 86 minutes on the pitch with a mighty 14 ground duels won, on top of a blistering nine successful dribbles being completed that constantly kept the hosts on their toes.

Unfortunately, despite his constant willingness to get stuck in and be involved, Ndiaye would fail to join Gueye in catching Alisson out, despite having two Premier League strikes next to his name heading into the fierce contest.

With 13 strikes now in total for the Toffees, it’s clear that the 25-year-old was the original trickster down the flanks, before Jack Grealish’s emergence onto the scene.

Yet, Grealish and Ndiaye might not be the only slick wingers Moyes has at his disposal shortly, with a homegrown version of the Senegal international amazingly being brewed in the U21 picture.

Everton's homegrown Ndiaye

Ndiaye will know all too well the trials and tribulations of the men’s game, having once been a rising youngster at Boreham Wood, before embarking on a formative adventure at Sheffield United that eventually led him to Everton.

Justin Clarke will hope he can make similar waves in the first team in the near future, having also been thrust into the spotlight from a very early age, considering he made his senior debut for ex-employers AFC Wimbledon at just 15 years of age.

That record-breaking debut for the Dons would clearly catch Everton’s eye, leading to Clarke swapping South West London for the daunting environment of Merseyside last year, with the early signs pointing in the direction that the teenage sensation could be Ndiaye 2.0 if everything goes to plan.

The U21s breakout star has now even penned a senior deal at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, with Clarke also already powering home 14 strikes for both the U18s and U21s from just 25 appearances, which is one more effort than Ndiaye has managed to put away in the men’s ranks.

Clarke’s career numbers by position

Position

Games

Goals + Assists

RW

9

4 + 2

LW

7

3 + 0

CF

3

6 + 0

LM

1

0

Sourced by Transfermarkt

The similarities don’t end here between the hotly tipped Englishman and his Senegalese counterpart, however, with Clarke also showing off an adaptability that Ndiaye is well-known for when looking at the table above.

Amazingly, from just three career appearances as an out-and-out centre-forward, Clarke has a lethal six goals next to his name. Ndiaye isn’t quite at the same level of clinical finishing himself, but he does have 22 goal contributions to shout about from 42 career appearances up top.

But, while he does have this versatile edge up his sleeve, Clarke is also well-equipped to cause full-backs problems with mazey darts forward, much like the ex-Blades attacker, with one surge into the area in Premier League 2 action recently seeing him tee up fellow starlet Braiden Graham for a goal.

Once branded as a “fantastic” talent for the future by former Dons boss Johnnie Jackson, it will be intriguing to see if Clarke can reach Ndiaye’s insane heights down the line, knowing that he is in the same esteemed academy set-up that one produced the likes of Wayne Rooney.