Everton ‘secret weapon’ started ahead of club icon at Wembley before contract was torn up
Magaye Gueye at 35: Reflecting on a Brief but Memorable Everton Journey
Thirteen years may have passed, but the memory of Magaye Gueye starting for Everton in an FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool at Wembley still strikes a strange chord among fans. It’s a moment that remains remarkable, especially considering the players left out in his place—a club legend in Seamus Coleman and a former Real Madrid talent, Royston Drenthe.
Gueye, who turns 35 today, remains a name that evokes curiosity and debate among Everton supporters. The French winger was once seen as a promising gem, joining the Toffees from Strasbourg in 2010 for a modest £1 million fee. He arrived with ambition and a sense of destiny.
“I am someone who is very ambitious. I’ve always dreamt of playing in a great league—it was always in my mind,” Gueye said upon signing. “The coach had been following me for six months. He told me he believed in me and even called me his ‘secret weapon’. He wanted me to play like Steven Pienaar.”
Despite the initial excitement, Gueye’s early months in Merseyside were largely spent biding his time. He made his competitive debut during a League Cup clash in the 2010–11 season but had to wait until April for his Premier League bow, appearing off the bench against Aston Villa. Just a week later, he earned his first top-flight start in a match against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
During those formative months, Gueye showed glimpses of the talent that had caught Everton’s attention. Veteran defender and compatriot Sylvain Distin was quick to praise the youngster: “Magaye has tremendous quality. He’s a good guy with a great mentality. He waited patiently for his chance, and just when it seemed like he’d get it, he got injured. But he bounced back well against Villa and showed everyone what he’s capable of.”
It was the following season—2011–12—when Gueye enjoyed his best spell in an Everton shirt. He contributed significantly during the club’s FA Cup campaign, most notably providing a superb assist for Nikica Jelavic in the quarter-final replay victory over Sunderland. Shortly after, he netted his first Premier League goal—again, against Sunderland—underlining his growing influence.
That purple patch earned him a starting berth in one of the club’s biggest matches in recent memory: the FA Cup semi-final showdown against Liverpool at Wembley. Gueye’s selection raised eyebrows, as Coleman was benched and Drenthe was controversially omitted from the squad altogether.
Unfortunately for Gueye and Everton, the match ended in heartbreak. A late goal from Liverpool’s Andy Carroll sealed a dramatic 2–1 defeat. Gueye struggled to impact the game and was replaced by Coleman with 25 minutes remaining. While the defeat was devastating for the club and fans alike, it marked the peak of Gueye’s Everton career.
From that point, his fortunes waned. In January of the following season, he was loaned out to Ligue 1 side Brest. Upon returning, he found opportunities under new manager Roberto Martinez hard to come by. He made just one appearance during the 2013–14 campaign—a brief cameo in the FA Cup against Stevenage, where he scored.
By the summer of 2014, it was clear that Gueye’s time at Goodison Park was drawing to a close. Everton and the player mutually agreed to terminate his contract, which still had a year left to run. “The club would like to thank Magaye for his contribution over the past four years and wish him all the best in the future,” read a brief statement from Everton.
Gueye then signed a one-year deal with Millwall, where he saw out a full season before embarking on a nomadic career across various leagues. He had short stints with Adanaspor and Osmanlıspor in Turkey, followed by a spell with Azerbaijani side Qarabağ, and later Romanian outfit Dinamo București.
However, controversy would soon cloud his post-Everton career. In March 2021, Romanian journalist Emanuel Roșu reported that Gueye had tested positive for cocaine following a Romanian Cup match against FCSB. According to Roșu, Dinamo had requested anti-doping tests because they found the opponents’ physical performance unusually high. Ironically, it was one of their own players who ended up testing positive.
The result spelled the end of Gueye’s time at Dinamo. His contract was not renewed, and he was released shortly after. A brief stint with Greek second-tier club Anagennisi Karditsas followed in 2022, but since then, Gueye has remained without a club.
Though his time in the spotlight was short-lived, Magaye Gueye’s story is a reminder of the unpredictability of football careers. From being touted as a future star and a coach’s “secret weapon” at a Premier League giant, to bouncing around clubs in Europe and dealing with off-field controversies, his journey has had highs, lows, and everything in between.
As he turns 35, the legacy of Gueye’s time at Everton lives on in that surreal afternoon at Wembley—a moment that still leaves many fans scratching their heads.