When The Athletic first reported on Monday that Everton would consider selling Jake O’Brien, it became a source of immediate concern for their supporters, still basking in the glow of a rare Premier League opening-day victory, beating visitors Crystal Palace 2-0.News of Manchester City’s interest in Iliman Ndiaye, though, has ensured that anxiety and uncertainty will loom over manager David Moyes’ side in the final days of a transfer window that closes at 11pm UK time on Tuesday (6pm ET).City are looking into a move for Ndiaye, with Everton keen on a deal that would see Jack Grealish head back to Hill Dickinson Stadium following a successful, if injury-curtailed, loan spell last season.Whether City firm things up with an official bid remains to be seen. But the exit of Ndiaye so late in the window, were Everton to sell, would blow a gaping hole in the “two summer window plan” that chief executive Angus Kinnear has championed over the past 12 months.If a bid had come in for Ndiaye earlier — not long after we reported in early June the 26-year-old Senegal international had rejected multiple new-contract offers from Everton — it would have been easier for everyone concerned with the Merseyside club to come to terms with a departure.Ndiaye played a starring role in the weekend’s opening-day win against Crystal Palace (Peter Powell/ AFP via Getty Images)As important as Ndiaye is to them, he struggled for form in the second half of last season following his return from the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in late January and failed to make a significant impact as Everton blew a shot at European football, not winning any of their final seven Premier League matches.Whether shortly before or immediately after the 2026 World Cup, it would have been much easier to stomach, giving Everton time to source an adequate replacement.But any new season brings renewed hope and optimism, even to long-suffering Evertonians.Ndiaye’s influence on the win against Palace on Saturday, coupled with an impressive display where he truly began to gel with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Thierno Barry against Preston North End of the Championship in the Carabao Cup four days later, means an exit now would be a gut punch.