Exclusive: Phil Jagielka makes strong Sheffield United player claim | OneFootball

Phil Jagielka has backed Sheffield United’s Iliman Ndiaye to play at the highest level as he praised the forward for the way he has embraced additional responsibility within the team this season.

The 22-year-old enjoyed a breakthrough campaign last time out but he was at times overshadowed by then teammate Morgan Gibbs-White.

However, Ndiaye has shone for the Blades this season, scoring nine goals and registering seven assists to help Paul Heckingbottom’s side to second in the table as they push for promotion.

And, speaking exclusively to Football League World via Sky Bet, Jagielka was full of praise for the attacker.

“Iliman Ndiaye can be a Premier League player in the next year or two. Even when I was there, Iliman was around the first team, it was just a case of he did all the good stuff, but when it came to scoring sometimes, he would opt to pass, sometimes he’d do a little trick and maybe didn’t have that killer instinct.

“You can see especially this season and a little bit last season, but more so this year because they rely on him a little bit more. He’s stepped up to the plate, he’s grown up as a young man in that team and took the mantle of wanting to be the top goalscorer, the main man and scored some very important goals for the club.

“He’s now played internationally for his country as well, so everything’s heading in the right direction and I can 100% see Iliman being a Premier League player in the future.”

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James Beattie

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The verdict

You can’t really argue with Jagielka here as you get the feeling that whether Sheffield United win promotion or not, Ndiaye will be playing Premier League football next season.

In fact, even if they go up it will be a challenge to keep the youngster at Bramall Lane due to his contract situation and the fact his form has been so good.

But, that’s a worry for another day as right now all connected to Sheffield United will be delighted with how Ndiaye is playing and there’s no doubt he has developed so much in the past year.