Jack O’Connell hails “class” Sheffield United star who could hold promotion key

Ndiaye has emerged as one of United’s key men this term, stepping into the creative void left by Morgan Gibbs-White last season and scoring nine goals in the first half of the season to help the Blades into the automatic promotion places.

That form also earned him a call-up to the Senegal squad for this winter’s World Cup and after Aliou Cisse’s side saw their Qatar campaign ended by England in the round of 16, Ndiaye returned to United and impressed in their 1-0 victory over Huddersfield Town at Bramall Lane on Saturday.

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A sublime combination of strength and skill saw him shrug off three challenges before finding skipper Billy Sharp to score his first of the seasom with a superb chip and O’Connell, watching on from the SUTV studio, said of Ndiaye: “He’s class.

“We’ve spoken about him so much and he's got the world at his feet. He's got so much talent and he's a humble kid as well. And that will take him a long way.

“If we keep Ili fit, he’s going to be one of the reasons we get promoted, if we do get promoted. He’s that good. He can win a game on his own. You’ve seen today with that ball; Billy didn’t even have to take a touch. It was class by Ili.”

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O’Connell’s fellow pundit, former Blades striker Carl Asaba, is also a self-confessed fan of Ndiaye’s abilities and added: “He's really grounded, really lovely, but he's had a taste and he wants more. He's got the skill and mentally, he's willing to work. I fully believe we're going to watch this boy's career go through the stratosphere.

“This squad now has everything but that’s why money was spent and people were brought in. There should be an answer to every question you get given in this division. The manager now has the tough job of picking the right players to win matches. It's a tough division but boy, have we got a great squad.”

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