Idrissa Gana Gueye’s Everton contract runs out on June 30, and after two solid performances at the World Cup, the timing of his expiry couldn’t be more tricky.
With Senegal needing a win over Iraq this Friday just to stay alive in the tournament, Gueye’s club future and his country’s campaign are now tangled up in the same four-day window.
Where the contract talks actually stand
Everton confirmed in their end-of-season retained list that the club is continuing to liaise with Gueye’s representatives over his future, with his existing deal expiring at the end of June.
That was deliberately non-committal wording, and reflects where things genuinely sit: nothing has been agreed, but nothing has collapsed either. Everton are understood to want to keep him for an eighth season at the club and a fifth since his return from Paris Saint-Germain in 2021, even with the midfielder closing in on his 37th birthday.
The numbers explain why this isn’t a straightforward ‘yes.’ Gueye is reportedly on £120k a week, comfortably among the higher earners in the squad, and any extension is expected to come with reduced terms attached.
He made 25 appearances for Everton this season, a campaign interrupted by a suspension following a red card against Manchester United and the Africa Cup of Nations, where Senegal’s title was later controversially stripped.
Add in David Moyes’ pursuit of Hayden Hackney and the development of younger squad players, like Tim Iroegbunam, and the case for moving on starts to look as strong as the case for staying.
Why his World Cup form complicates the decision
Then there’s the World Cup, which has rather inconveniently (or conveniently) reminded everyone what Gueye can still do.
He played the full 90 minutes in Senegal’s opening defeat to France, and again in last night’s 3-2 loss to Norway, where he combined with Sadio Mane to help set up one of Ismaila Sarr’s goals and looked, by most assessments, like one of Senegal’s better performers across both games.
For a player some had quietly written off as a squad option for next season, two full international performances at a World Cup is a fairly emphatic response.
That puts Everton in an interesting spot. Negotiating a pay cut with a player who’s just turned in two encouraging displays on the biggest stage in football is a different conversation to negotiating with one who’s as if his best years are behind him.
It doesn’t necessarily change the logic, but it does change the optics, and possibly Gueye’s own appetite for accepting reduced terms if he feels he’s shown he still has more to offer.
Why Friday’s result matters beyond the World Cup
Senegal’s situation adds an edge to all of this. After back-to-back defeats, they must beat Iraq on Friday and rely on other results to have any chance of reaching the knockout stages.
If they go out, Gueye’s tournament ends days before his Everton contract does, and he’d arrive back on Merseyside for pre-season talks with his international future settled one way and his club future still entirely open.
If Senegal somehow find a way through, Gueye plays on with added motivation and an extended audition, for better or worse, just as Everton would ideally wish for clarity on his position.
Either way, expect this to move quickly once his World Cup is over. With Everton already managing one high-profile contract storyline this summer in the Hackney pursuit, getting the Gueye situation settled – either way – looks increasingly like a priority rather than something left to drift.
For the latest on Everton’s midfield rebuild, read our Hayden Hackney deal explainer, and catch up on Gueye’s World Cup performances so far in our Senegal vs Norway report.
