Everton head coach David Moyes was heavily backed by the club throughout the summer transfer window with a host of new signings to bolster the squad.
Jack Grealish, who scored the winning goal against Crystal Palace last time out, has been a standout signing for the Toffees since his move to the club on loan from Manchester City.
The England international’s impressive start to life at Everton, with one goal and four assists in the Premier League, has meant that Iliman Ndiaye has had to play a new role this season.
Why Iliman Ndiaye has had to play a new role for Everton
The Senegal international played 32 of his 35 starts on the left flank for the Toffees in all competitions in the 2024/25 campaign, per Transfermarkt, scoring 11 goals.
However, Grealish’s preferred position is on the left wing, cutting inside on his right foot, and that is the role that he has nailed down since his move from The Etihad.
Because of the English forward’s form, Ndiaye has had to be moved out wide to the right wing. Per Transfermarkt, five of his seven starts have been on the right flank, with two of his three goals coming in that position.
With Ndiaye having to play a new role on the right wing as a right-footed player, Moyes could make the attacking midfielder unplayable by starting Adam Aznou in a new role of his own at right-back.
How Adam Aznou could make Iliman Ndiaye unplayable
Everton signed the Morocco international from Bayern Munich in the summer transfer window, but his only appearance of the season so far came for the U21s at left-back against Doncaster in the EFL Trophy.
The 19-year-old left-back could make his breakthrough with the Toffees in a new role at right-back, though, to form an exciting partnership with Ndiaye down the right wing.
Aznou has played eight times as a right-back in his career, per Transfermarkt, which shows that he can play on that side, but it is not his usual position, which is left-back, and he has not played there for Everton yet.
Premier League Panel analyst Raj Chohan described Aznou as a “natural attacking threat” and claimed that Everton’s attack would improve if they played him as a ball-carrying right-back behind Ndiaye.
The Morocco international’s form in LaLiga on loan with Real Valladollid in the second half of last season suggests that Chohan’s theory has some weight behind it.
|
24/25 LaLiga |
Adam Aznou per 90 |
Percentile rank vs LBs |
|---|---|---|
|
Dribbles completed |
1.96 |
Top 3% |
|
Dribble success rate |
55.9% |
Top 24% |
|
Touches in opposition box |
1.54 |
Top 24% |
|
Fouls won |
1.75 |
Top 7% |
|
Tackles won |
2.88 |
Top 17% |
|
Duels won |
7.72 |
Top 5% |
|
Ball recoveries |
5.77 |
Top 6% |
As you can see in the table above, Aznou excelled among full-backs in the Spanish top-flight for taking players on and getting involved high up the pitch in the opposition’s box, whilst still being impressive in several defensive metrics.
These statistics suggest that the teenage talent has the defensive and technical attributes to play at right-back and support Ndiaye at the top end of the pitch, something that central defender Jake O’Brien is not a natural at in the right-back position.
This means that Ndiaye could have more space to work with in the inside right position because Aznou’s overlapping threat would force opposition defenders to pay attention to him, which would free up the Senegal international to move infield to join up with the other attackers without being marked out of the game.
At the moment, O’Brien does not carry that same threat down the right flank, which means that opposition teams can afford to put two players on the former Sheffield United star.
Therefore, Moyes could help to make Ndiaye unplayable down the right wing by unleashing Aznou in a new role with the Toffees at right-back this season.
