David Moyes will face off against his former West Ham United side on Monday night, hungry to pick up another positive result at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Indeed, while Everton are in a very stable position currently with Moyes at the helm, the Hammers are now entering into the unknown after sacking Graham Potter, with Nuno Espirito Santo the chosen man to replace Potter to try and get the East London side out of their early relegation mire.

Having failed at Tottenham Hotspur before, it will be intriguing to see how the Portuguese boss does in another pressurised dug-out in London, with Iliman Ndiaye hopeful he can make his debut in the hot-seat an uncomfortable one by putting in another blistering attacking display for the Toffees.

Ndiaye's rise at Everton

It’s safe to say now that Ndiaye is a much-loved figure if you swear allegiance to the blue half of Merseyside.

From 38 Premier League games for a resurgent Everton, who could be just one point shy of fourth if they get the better of the Hammers on Monday night, the Senegal international has a whirlwind 11 strikes next to his name, which has led to Sky Sports’ Jamie Redknapp hailing the ex-Sheffield United attacker as “dynamite” to watch.

Having cost just £15m to pick up from Marseille in the summer of 2024, Moyes and Co will now surely be laughing at how little it cost to bring such a sparkling performer back to English shores, considering he also bagged 22 goals in total in South Yorkshire.

He will hope he can push on and score even more exhilarating goals in the games to follow, but – unfortunately – Everton haven’t always struck instant gold with their attacking purchases like this example.

Instead, the Toffees have just been left with an unbearable sense of regret, with one former attacker, who cost just £11m to bring in once upon a time, becoming a world beater away from the shackles of Merseyside.

Everton flop is now worth more than Ndiaye

While picking up Ndiaye does clearly show Everton have a knack for unearthing some serious gems, other glaring examples also point in the direction that the Toffees are susceptible to notable blunders as well.

Ademola Lookman’s brief stay at Goodison Park is one transfer that sticks out in this regard, with the 27-year-old forward going on to prove himself in Italy after his stifling 48-game experience at Everton.

From those 48 games, Lookman would only chip in with four goals and two assists, with just one of these bleak contributions falling in the Premier League.

In stark contrast, last campaign in Serie A with Atalanta, the Nigeria international would set the high-intensity division alight with 15 goals and five assists tallied up, which also led him down the path to Ballon d’Or recognition, among the nominees for the 2024 award.

Arguably, with these impressive numbers under his belt, it could be said that “world-class” number 11 – as he has been glowingly labelled by the BBC’s John Bennett – is even better than man of the moment Ndiaye.

Consequently, Everton are now surely left with a lingering agony of wanting to turn back time to get the maximum out of a player who only ever struggled on Merseyside.

Games played

119

Goals scored

52

Assists

25

Value when signing

£13m

Value now

£52m

Everton’s regret is very much Atalanta’s jubilation, however, with the Serie A side continuing to reap the rewards of the £13m deal they signed off on three years ago, considering Lookman has since amassed a stunning 77 goal contributions and counting in Bergamo, which as per Transfermarkt, has seen his valuation soar to £52m.

To the Toffees’ relief, somewhat, they did at least manage to ship Lookman off to RB Leipzig for a fee around the £22.5m mark in 2019, right after his subdued Everton exit. Still, however, with Lookman now worth around £30m more, it’s undoubtedly a blunder nonetheless.

Yet, with Ndiaye and Jack Grealish at Moyes’ disposal right now, it’s not as if Lookman-style attackers aren’t littered throughout the current squad, as Everton attempt to continue to get the very best out of this pairing and their other forwards to potentially meet Lookman’s Atalanta in European competitions down the line.

Earns more than Ndiaye: Moyes must cash in on "incredible" Everton talent

Everton might consider parting ways with this first-team star sooner rather than later.

ByAngus Sinclair