Gana's AFCON Hopes, Ndiaye Claim & Secret Behind Everton Passion

Idrissa Gana Gueye – Everton’s 2024/25 Player of the Season and Players’ Player of the Season – continues to be a key cog in the Blues' midfield and, despite turning 36 last summer, shows no signs of slowing down.

In truth, Gana isn’t the biggest fan of media duties – preferring a quiet life off the pitch – but he speaks eloquently and honestly when it comes down to it.

He is softly spoken but his deep passion for Everton is evident.

Now into his seventh campaign in royal blue, what was it that formed this bond – and what continues to feed it?

He smiles and takes a moment before explaining: “It is something that just comes naturally. It always has done. Honestly, it’s hard to explain to someone who doesn’t know this club.

“From very early on I enjoyed nice moments with the supporters, the players and staff here. I just feel at home.

“Everton means a lot for me. I had the opportunity to extend my contract in the summer and I didn’t hesitate. I was delighted to stay here.

“I said it when I came back here [from Paris Saint-Germain in 2022] that the goal was to get the Club back up to where we feel it belongs – playing in Europe, fighting towards the top of the league.

“We haven’t reached that goal yet, so we keep going – we keep working.”

If Gana is a key cog, Senegal teammate Iliman Ndiaye continues to establish himself as a star of this Everton side.

And Gana, who describes himself as a “grandbrother” to his compatriot, believes no achievement is out of Ndiaye’s reach.

“I challenge him every game, every time we play,” reveals Gana. “I’m always speaking to him. He’s a good boy, he listens a lot and, yeah, I’m like his... grandbrother!

“I always knew he would be successful here at Everton and, honestly, I don’t think he’s shown his best yet.

“I train with him every day, so I see his quality every day and I can see what he is capable of. He just needs to believe in himself, keep working hard and have high expectations of himself.

“I told him when he first arrived here that he can be the next African Ballon d’Or winner, because he has the quality, he has the technique, he has the skills and everything.

“He has a combination I’ve never seen before.

“He’s a humble guy. A very, very good guy. He’s not shy – he likes to play and joke with everyone. Nobody ever has a problem with him because he is humble and always keeps working hard. You see in those videos even from when he was very young how hard he works and it’s because he always wants to be better.”

Gana is currently away with Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco. He's deeply passionate about his nation.

Away from the pitch, Everton’s No.27 continues his charitable work. He co-founded the For Hope Association and has subsequently raised millions of pounds for people fighting cancer and HIV/AIDS, as well as providing support for children and families in need.

Football-wise, he is Senegal’s most-capped player of all time, having represented his nation 120 times to date, and played a crucial role in the Lions of Teranga side that landed their first-ever AFCON crown in 2021.

“As young boys, we always dreamed of playing for our country, representing our country at the AFCON and in the World Cup,” Gana explains.

“To win the AFCON for the first time for Senegal was just unbelievable. Now I want Skiliman [Ndiaye] to live this with me again.

“Of course, we are going there to win the tournament. We are not hiding our goals in that respect, because everyone knows with our team that we can do it.

“But, as we’ve seen in the past, it’s not always the best team that wins tournaments, it’s the best group. It will be difficult.

“It’s up to us to listen to our manager and stay together. We will do everything we can, I know that.”

On missing games for Everton as a consequence of the tournament, he continues: “Of course, it’s a difficult thing. It’s difficult for us as players to stop in the middle of the season for AFCON, switching from the Premier League to go straight into AFCON and then immediately back again, but this is the way it is.

“Our country is very important for us, the Club is very important, too. Of course, we’d prefer to play it in the summer but this is the situation we are in and we will give our best for both.”

Everton strengthened their options in midfield over the summer – boss Moyes citing the AFCON and Gana’s absence as one of the reasons for doing so, as he welcomed central midfielders Merlin Röhl, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Charly Alcaraz to his squad.

Not dissimilar to one of his best qualities on the pitch, Gana anticipates the next question and politely interrupts before it can be asked.

“Of course we have plenty of players to come in and do well – we are a team,” he insists. “The manager has built a team where nobody is irreplaceable. We are not just 11 players, we are a team and a squad together.

“Anyone who comes in has the quality to play well, I know that. Not just in the middle, but out wide [in Ndiaye’s absence] there are options with players like Tyler [Dibling], Dwighty [McNeil] and others who will be more than ready to go.

“As well as those options, we’ve got the skipper, Seamus. He always takes care of the group and makes sure everyone is on the right path.”

Gana (speaking ahead of the tournament) confirms there is no doubt he and Ndiaye will be glued to a TV screen during the AFCON when those Everton games take place.

But there is work to do before then.

After a quick start to the season, Gana is keen to get back to winning ways consistently and keep building on the impressive progress made by the Blues under Moyes.

“It’s been good to work with the manager,” he says. “He has had the patience and the experience to really help us. He gives us a lot of advice and we speak a lot, inside and outside of the pitch.

“Obviously, he knows the Club very well and he knows this group very well, so he knows what is required for us to achieve our goals.

“In this moment right now, it’s a little bit difficult and we want to be winning more games but we keep working hard together, listening to the advice of the manager and the staff and giving our best to get those results we all want.”

On how Moyes has deployed him so far, Gana adds: “We always learn, even me at 36 years old. I’ve learned from him.

“Every manager is different so there are always things that you can take and bring to your game.

“Each manager prefers different things – some like to be more direct, some like to build up from the back and I think our manager now has a good mix of both.

“He adapts his tactics to what the games requires – if you need to play long then play long and if you need to keep the ball more than play short.”