Iliman Ndiaye explains brutal Tottenham snub after completing £65m Man City move

Iliman Ndiaye has explained why he opted to join Manchester City over Tottenham Hotspur, after completing his £65million switch to The Etihad on transfer deadline day.

City jumped in to hijack Spurs’ proposed move for the Senegal international winger after failing in their efforts to tempt Liverpool to part ways with Cody Gakpo.

Tottenham had initially wanted to sign Gakpo before the Anfield star snubbed a switch to north London in favour of joining City, only for Liverpool to block the transfer.

The race for Ndiaye was then on, but there was only ever one winner in truth, with City paying £60m up front with a further £5m in add-ons.

And speaking for the first time as a City player, Ndiaye made it clear that he was only ever going to join one club.

“It’s easy to make the decision about whether you want to be at Manchester City or not,” he said.

“You can see the recent history; you want to be part of that project.

“They talked to me about where we could go, what we could achieve with me in the team, and I was interested from the beginning.

“There was nothing else that I wanted other than joining Manchester City.

“Obviously, you want to be part of this new project. I’ve seen recently what they’ve been doing, and I feel like I will fit right in it.

“I’m super excited to start.

“It’s an unbelievable moment. I’ve worked so hard to get to this point and I’m super excited and really grateful for this opportunity.”

Ndiaye is set to be joined by Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez at City, after a joint British record £125m bid was accepted for the Argentine.