During Dan Ndoye’s couple of seasons at Bologna, he kept a few shirts – with his name and number on the reverse – stashed in the glove box of his car in case he bumped into young supporters around town. Naturally, he had a pen handy for autographs, too. It is a nugget that epitomises his down-to-earth character, which radiates as he discusses his £35m move to Nottingham Forest this summer. “If I can give away a couple of shirts here, I will do so with pleasure,” he says. “Sometimes a small gesture can make a big difference.”
As a kid who idolised Neymar, a signed shirt from one of his heroes was the stuff of dreams. Ndoye, who trained with his Forest teammates for the first time last week, was born in Nyon to a Senegalese father, Saliou, and a Swiss mother, Virginie, and came through the ranks at Lausanne. The 24-year-old values his African roots – he visits his grandmother in Dakar when time allows – and incorporated them into his now-trademark celebration, where he mimics a growling big cat displaying its claws. “I was always asking myself: ‘What celebration can I do that represents myself?’ The Senegal national team are known as the Lions of Teranga and my mum, since I was a kid, always called me a little lion, because every time I would always give my best.”
