There have been rumours building for some time that Everton will lose their most exciting attacking talent, with the former Marseille player failing to agree to sign a contract extension offered to him, and making cryptic remarks about wanting to play at a higher level.
It now appears as though one of the suitors linked with Ndiaye has agreed personal terms with the Senegal international, and so a deal seems to be becoming more likely by the day.
Ideally, I think most Blues supporters will agree that they do not want to see Ndiaye leave and that instead David Moyes can build a truly competitive team around him.
However, the reality of modern football is that if you are not one of the golden few at the top of the Premier League, virtually guaranteed Champions League football and trophy success, then you are always ultimately a selling club.
Still, Everton are, of course, in the box seat with Ndiaye under contract until 2029, and the Toffees are no longer in dire financial straits that would require them to sell playing assets for less than their market value.
And anyway, today the player's father claims that he has spoken with Ndiaye and has received assurances that he will not be leaving for the Middle East after all.
Whatever the truth of all this, if Ndiaye does have his head turned and is determined to go, then it will be problematic to hold onto a want-away player possibly disrupting the dressing room, always assuming the right terms and fee are agreed. And although it is somewhat of a cliché, no player is in the end more important than the club.
Given the Blues' much-improved financial situation, they should be able to hold out for at least £70-80 million, especially if he is being courted by the mega-rich Saudi's.
That sort of money would make a big difference to Moyes, enabling him to really strengthen the quality and depth of the squad before the new season kicks off, with right-back and, now, after Idrissa Gueye's departure, central midfield perhaps the most pressing positional needs.
Rumours are that the Everton manager will also go back in for Jack Grealish and try to seal his return to Merseyside if the Ndiaye transfer does go through.
While a deal for Grealish on very much more favourable terms to the Toffees would be worth considering, there is another solution that would mean the club could spend the majority of that money on improving other areas of the side.
Tyrique George impressed Moyes during the second half of last season when he was on loan from Chelsea, and the Blues turned that loan into a permanent deal earlier in the summer.
The England Under-21 international's pace, trickery and ability to put quality balls into the box make him a very promising young talent. He also likes to operate on the left side, which is Ndiaye's favoured position too.
So, after taking the decision to invest in his future, it makes sense to give George the opportunity to show that he can offer the sort of productivity that Ndiaye provided in the first team, whether the Senegalese stays or not.
If George were to have a breakout campaign, it would give Everton much-needed depth and another quality attacking option out wide and maybe make selling Ndiaye a more reasonable possibility in the future.
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