With a whirlpool of uncertainty swirling around Manchester City since a comprehensive guilty verdict issued by the Premier League, every statement from a first-team player about their future is being placed under the microscope.

Summer deadline day signing Iliman Ndiaye - recruited from Everton - is the latest example, speaking warmly of a former club in France's Ligue 1 to which he could one day return.

When asked, the £60 million Senegal international winger was open to the prospect of a third spell at Olympique Marseille - the side he represented as a youngster and again as a senior player.

Speaking to French outlet La Provence, Iliman Ndiaye spoke fondly of his former Ligue 1 employers as he explained, “The shouts from Marseille supporters asking me to come back? It is nice to hear.

“I don’t think that the story is finished, but we will see. I’m just saying, I never know where it’ll lead me, but we’ll see anyway.”

Enzo Maresca's hugely talented first-team squad are being linked with moves to every corner of Europe after the recent Premier League verdict, but nothing here ought to concern Manchester City fans.

Iliman Ndiaye’s comments are measured, rather than any statement of intent, and he has made no reference to the boardroom-level events at the Etihad Stadium. Even so, the timing - days on from an announcement that has thrown City’s future into doubt - was always going to magnify his words.

Iliman Ndiaye’s bond with Marseille runs deep, having been born in Rouen, Normandy before moving to the south of France as a child and coming through the club’s youth ranks ahead of getting his first taste of the Premier League with Sheffield United.

A move back to Marseille followed in 2023, though the 26-year-old struggled to settle and left after just one season. It was at Everton that he hit his highest level to date, impressing enough to secure a deadline-day move to Manchester, signing a deal until June 2031.

Manchester City were found guilty of serious financial breaches within Premier League rules spanning nine seasons, having been judged to have inflated their revenues by more than £900 million through “sham” arrangements, and now face the threat of a heavy points deduction or worse.

The media response to Iliman Ndiaye’s innocuous comments in French media is a good example of how news at the Etihad Stadium is impacting the narrative around even recently signed players. 

Some reports have gone as far as to suggest that players will be allowed to leave for nothing, should the eventual punishment prove severe enough - speculation the club will want to put an end to as soon as possible.

Manchester City swiftly launched an appeal against the independent commission's decision and verdict, and continue to insist publicly that “irrefutable evidence” exists to clear their name.