The way I play football gets people off their seats, says Iliman Ndiaye. Everton fans were certainly on their feet when the midfielder netted an early goal of the season contender against Sunderland earlier this month. After getting the ball on the right wing, he flashed past his opponents' defence in an impressive display of speed and skill before putting it away with his weaker foot. The Senegalese winger's talent is taken for granted now, but he had to work hard to prove himself before landing a spot in a Premier League starting line-up. He tells BBC Newsbeat that Rising Ballers, a media brand that uses grassroots initiatives to show off unsigned talent, was instrumental in helping him to showcase his skills. The things I was doing there, I wasn't doing at other clubs. It helped me stay fit and enjoy football more, especially when you don't have a club, he says. The French-born footballer did not have an easy run on his way to the top, with numerous clubs rejecting him over the years, including Chelsea and Tottenham. He got close while with the Southampton development team, which led to a six-week trial at the club, but he didn't make the cut. The disappointing run continued until Boreham Wood, who are in the fifth tier of English Football, signed him in 2017. He later went on trial at Sheffield United where he was signed for the following season when he turned 19, but he needed to stay fit before starting. That's when Rising Ballers came in. I was playing five-a-side to keep fit and one of the guys was like: 'You've got to play for them,' he recalls. At first, they were like: 'No' - because they didn't know who I was. Then they said I could come in for a game and that's where they found out about my skill. Only 180 of the 1.5 million boys playing organised youth football in England will ever play in the Premier League. Despite the odds being stacked against him, Ndiaye was determined to succeed, especially after one team told his father that he wouldn't make it as a professional. I have trained my whole time to be a football player and just believe in my ability, he says. The way you dribble past three, four players in the Prem, that's skills to me. Today, Ndiaye serves as an inspiration to many aspiring footballers who dream of following in his footsteps.