Wilfred Ndidi (signed for Besiktas 9m)

[Jon the Hat]

Good luck Wilf, he's been a great signing for us, and wish him all the best.

[EastAnglianFox]

One of the very last “good guys” we have left and deserves one last shot on the big stage in a European competition.

 

If you follow his socials you can see what a lovey guy he is and how “normal” and down to earth his entire family are.

 

In terms of the move, I hope he isn’t worried about Turkey, Istanbul is an absolutely fantastic city, really genuine friendly people and some of the best food in the world.

 

Time to move on but certainly won’t forget the Wilf the destroyer that we had the best years of

 

 

[Bob Weasel Fox]

Good luck Wilf

 

good move all around 👏

[Spanner73]

6 hours ago, DLH said:

Ndidi’s house is up for sale. So I wouldn’t worry about the deal being held up by someone trying to hijack the deal.

 

He’s definitely off.

How do you know about his house ? 

[DLH]

15 minutes ago, Spanner73 said:

How do you know about his house ? 

Daughter’s school friend, lives in the same village and on the same street. She said his house is on the market.

[Bert]

3 hours ago, DLH said:

Daughter’s school friend, lives in the same village and on the same street. She said his house is on the market.

Tier 1 source then 

[sylofox]

6 hours ago, DLH said:

Daughter’s school friend, lives in the same village and on the same street. She said his house is on the market.

Or he's moving because he's fed up with nosey neighbours spreading rumours?

[lcfc_forever]

Looks like it’s now finalised 

 

 

[rony]

hi i'm a beşiktaş fan and I have a few questions about ndidi.

he’s missed at least 20 games almost every season has that taken a toll on him physically?

as beşiktaş we have a pretty fragile midfield, and this season our central trio will likely be ndidi, orkun kokcu, and rafa silva. orkun and rafa are both more attack-minded and not very defensive players.

can ndidi, as a number 6, cover the gaps they leave behind? Is his pace and stamina still at that level?

[Kitsune Foxglove]

If true, fair play to Besiktas. He’s not the player he was in 2020, but £9m? Bargain.

[Jazzy_Jeff]

Is Wilf going to be missed? Ndidi is 👀 couldn’t resist!

 

good move for all, I wish him well. 

[VLC86]

1 hour ago, rony said:

hi i'm a beşiktaş fan and I have a few questions about ndidi.

he’s missed at least 20 games almost every season has that taken a toll on him physically?

as beşiktaş we have a pretty fragile midfield, and this season our central trio will likely be ndidi, orkun kokcu, and rafa silva. orkun and rafa are both more attack-minded and not very defensive players.

can ndidi, as a number 6, cover the gaps they leave behind? Is his pace and stamina still at that level?

Difficult to say on any of them points really as I don’t watch enough Turkish football to understand the level but had he stayed here he would definitely be a starter for us and did have some good moments in a poor season for us last year.

 

I think this is a decent deal for everyone and he will probably do well for you if you can keep him fit.

[Guest BlueApple]

2 hours ago, rony said:

hi i'm a beşiktaş fan and I have a few questions about ndidi.

he’s missed at least 20 games almost every season has that taken a toll on him physically?

as beşiktaş we have a pretty fragile midfield, and this season our central trio will likely be ndidi, orkun kokcu, and rafa silva. orkun and rafa are both more attack-minded and not very defensive players.

can ndidi, as a number 6, cover the gaps they leave behind? Is his pace and stamina still at that level?

That's when Ndidi was best for us, when all he had to do was win the ball back and pass it onto the more attacking midfielders, so he should be a good fit in that midfield. 

I think injuries are why he didn't develop into the player we all thought he was going to be but I wouldn't say he's fragile or injury prone, other fans may disagree! 

[cropstonfox]

5 hours ago, Bert said:

Tier 1 source then 

It's the one next door that's for sale.

100%

[Verumex]

2 hours ago, rony said:

hi i'm a beşiktaş fan and I have a few questions about ndidi.

he’s missed at least 20 games almost every season has that taken a toll on him physically?

as beşiktaş we have a pretty fragile midfield, and this season our central trio will likely be ndidi, orkun kokcu, and rafa silva. orkun and rafa are both more attack-minded and not very defensive players.

can ndidi, as a number 6, cover the gaps they leave behind? Is his pace and stamina still at that level?

No one expects the Besiktas inquisition! 

[LFEFox23]

Good luck Wilf, Wish you all the best!

 

Great player for us over the years and don't begrudge him leaving.

[rony]

54 minutes ago, VLC86 said:

Aslında bu noktalardan herhangi biri hakkında bir şey söylemek zor çünkü Türk futbolunu yeterince izlemiyorum ve seviyeyi anlayamıyorum ama burada kalsaydı kesinlikle ilk 11'de olurdu ve geçen sene bizim için kötü geçen bir sezonda iyi anlar da yaşadı.

 

Bence bu herkes için iyi bir anlaşma ve onu formda tutabilirseniz sizin için de iyi olacaktır.

in the turkish league, except for fenerbahçe and galatasaray, almost every team park the bus with 10 player behind the ball when they play against beşiktaş.

what we expect from ndidi is to be that holding presence help control things and ease the defensive burden on our more attacking midfielders.

back when i used to follow leicester, I remember he did that pretty well for maddison and tielemans he’d handle the dirty work so they could focus on creating.

Edited 6 August 2025 by rony

[kingpowerout]

5 minutes ago, rony said:

in the turkish league, except for fenerbahçe and galatasaray, almost every team park the bus with 10 player behind the ball when they play against beşiktaş.

what we expect from ndidi is to be that holding presence help control things and ease the defensive burden on our more attacking midfielders.

back when i used to follow leicester, I remember he did that pretty well for maddison and tielemans he’d handle the dirty work so they could focus on creating.

What you hope and expect of him is exactly what he is a master at so it sounds like a good fit.

 

Over the last couple of seasons he’s had spells where he’s been injured for around 6 weeks and sadly this seems to be more frequent, however the demands in English football are very heavy and maybe if they aren’t so heavy in Turkey then he can stay fit and be a key player for you 

[VLC86]

6 minutes ago, rony said:

in the turkish league, except for fenerbahçe and galatasaray, almost every team park the bus with 10 player behind the ball when they play against beşiktaş.

what we expect from ndidi is to be that holding presence help control things and ease the defensive burden on our more attacking midfielders.

back when i used to follow leicester, I remember he did that pretty well for maddison and tielemans he’d handle the dirty work so they could focus on creating.

Yep spot on, more recently he was given more advanced roles but i think he could do this in a lesser league.

[Finnegan]

2 hours ago, rony said:

hi i'm a beşiktaş fan and I have a few questions about ndidi.

he’s missed at least 20 games almost every season has that taken a toll on him physically?

as beşiktaş we have a pretty fragile midfield, and this season our central trio will likely be ndidi, orkun kokcu, and rafa silva. orkun and rafa are both more attack-minded and not very defensive players.

can ndidi, as a number 6, cover the gaps they leave behind? Is his pace and stamina still at that level?

 

If you're asking whether or not he can still run, yes he can. I don't think injuries have ruined his legs, when he's fit he's still actually fit. 

 

But he is pretty injury prone, he'll always pick up injuries and he'll have spells out of the team for a month or two most seasons. It's always been like that. 

 

He's a technically limited footballer but he's got a decent engine and when he's confident and in good form, he's still a good ball winner. He's at his best playing alongside a more technical midfielder who can take on the responsibilities of actually running the game. 

 

With all due respect to the Turkish league, if he stays fit and your manager understands his limitations then he'll be a brilliant signing for you. 

 

Overall this is probably one of the most "good for all parties" transfers I can remember in a while. It's about the right fee from your perspective, it's the right level for him to be playing at, we can afford to lose him and the cash is fair for us. 

 

Edited 6 August 2025 by Finnegan

[lcfc_forever]

He was arguably are most important player along with Vardy for Rodgers' most successful period as manager. 

 

I remember when he got injured in our first CL push, and how much of an impact it had on our form - Evans and Soyuncu looked so much more shaky without him and arguably, it cost us a place in the League Cup Final. When he returned vs. Chelsea at home, it was a huge boost.

 

And let's not forget how crucial his signing was to our turnaround in form in 2016/17 and CL run. 

 

But his form starting falling in the 21-22 season, and he didn't hit those heights again albeit his form in our promotion season (and at the start of the previous season) was excellent. 

 

A brilliant player for the club, one of our very best midfielders when he was at his peak. 

[surrifox]

Turkish clubs seem easier to deal with than the sort of nonsense Italian outfits we’ve been mucked about by in recent years 

[rony]

14 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

Eğer hala koşabiliyor mu diye soruyorsanız, evet koşabiliyor. Sakatlıkların bacaklarını mahvettiğini sanmıyorum, formda olduğunda gerçekten formda oluyor. 

 

Ama sakatlanmaya oldukça yatkın, sürekli sakatlanıyor ve çoğu sezon bir iki ay takımdan uzak kalıyor. Bu hep böyleydi. 

 

Teknik olarak kısıtlı bir futbolcu ama iyi bir motora sahip ve kendine güvenip formda olduğunda bile iyi bir top kapma yeteneğine sahip. En iyi performansını, oyunu yönetme sorumluluğunu üstlenebilecek daha teknik bir orta saha oyuncusuyla birlikte oynadığında gösteriyor. 

 

Türkiye Ligi'ne saygım sonsuz ama eğer formda kalırsa ve teknik direktörünüz de onun sınırlarını anlarsa sizin için harika bir transfer olur. 

 

Genel olarak bu, muhtemelen uzun zamandır hatırladığım en "herkes için iyi" transferlerden biri. Sizin bakış açınıza göre doğru ücret, oynaması için doğru seviye, onu kaybetmeyi göze alabiliriz ve para bizim için adil. 

 

the tempo and quality of the turkish league are honestly terrible. the game is all about physicality smaller teams don’t press high against fener, gala or beşiktaş they just sit back and defend aggressively.

I don’t think ndidi is at his best right now either, but honestly, even if he performs at half the level he did during his prime, I think we’d still be happy with him.

[Oshhhh]

Didn't realise ndidi was 28 😂😂

 

Thought he was at least 5 years older 

[MGLCFC]

3 minutes ago, Oshhhh said:

Didn't realise ndidi was 28 😂😂

 

Thought he was at least 5 years older 

He probably is