Everton made a formal approach for Watford manager Marco Silva on Monday morning, according to the Daily Mail.
The newspaper claim that the Merseyside giants contacted the Vicarage Road outfit after making the 40-year-old their No1 choice in the latest twist in their search for a replacement for Ronald Koeman.
The Mail report that Watford rebuffed the approach and are in a strong position because the Portugese does not have a release clause in the two-year deal he only signed in May.
It is said Silva is open to talks with Everton but any chance of sealing a deal is unlikely unless Silva kicks up a fuss with the the club’s Italian owners or an offer is made that Watford cannot turn down.
OPINION
Everton’s search for a new manager is a saga with more twists and turns than a Kevin Mirallas dribble. Fans will not be bothered too much as long as the outcome is more successful than most of the Belgian’s runs. Silva is an interesting choice and he could well be the right one, but he does not have a track record in the Premier League anywhere near as impressive as Burnley’s Sean Dyche. One look at the Premier League table shows the Clarets four points and two places above Watford, who are thriving in the face of a massive injury list, but did spend far more in the summer than Dyche’s team.