Manchester City want Iliman Ndiaye badly enough to consider handing Jack Grealish back to Everton to get him.

The club has held internal discussions about a bid worth around £80m for the Senegal forward, TeamTalk reported on Thursday, with Grealish floated as part of the package to prise him out of Goodison Park in the last days of the summer transfer window.

An £80m call for a player who is not for sale

Ndiaye is contracted to Everton until the summer of 2029, which is why the club has been able to sit on an £80m valuation without blinking. He turned down a fresh contract offer earlier in the summer and his camp are pushing for a release clause in any new deal.

Manchester City are not alone in the queue. Arsenal have been chasing him too, framing him as an alternative in a stretched attacking market. Ndiaye also came close to a move to Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal earlier in the window before turning it down.

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For Manchester City, the interest is operational. The forward is being lined up as a replacement for Savio, according to Fabrizio Romano’s reporting, which is why the part-exchange idea keeps coming up.

Grealish’s road back to Goodison

Grealish is not simply a chip in the negotiations. His own future has been unresolved for weeks.

The 30-year-old spent last season on loan at Everton and made 20 Premier League appearances, scoring twice and providing six assists before a foot injury ended his campaign. He is back at Manchester City this season and has been reintegrated into the squad by Enzo Maresca, the head coach who publicly wants to keep him.

The club, though, is open to letting him leave if he wants to leave, and he has entered the final 12 months of his contract.

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Aston Villa, his boyhood club, have made contact. Sunderland tabled a surprise loan bid earlier in the week but, per Romano, have now stepped back. Grealish’s own preference is a return to Everton over a reunion at Villa Park.

Everton’s decision by Tuesday

David Moyes wants to keep Ndiaye and would welcome Grealish back on Merseyside. Manchester City are trying to bundle both conversations into a single deal.

The Premier League summer transfer window closes at 11pm local time on Tuesday, 1 September.

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