Everton have been given a boost in their pursuit of Watford manager Marco Silva after he has refused to rule himself out of the running for the vacant managerial job.
Silva has emerged as the frontrunner in the hunt for the new Toffees manager, with current club Watford rejecting any advances so far for the highly-rated Portuguese boss.
The Daily Mail claims that the Merseyside club offered the Portuguese a £1.5million pay rise in order to acquire his services.
The newspaper also claims that Everton have reportedly made two offers to Watford for Silva’s services, the first of £8million and the second £10million, but the Hertfordshire club are unwavering in their resolve to keep the 40-year-old.
Silva’s current salary at Vicarage Road is reported to be around £2.5million, and the Toffees are said to have offered him much-improved terms of £4million.
When asked if he could assure Watford fans of his future at the club, Silva, who has only been in charge for 12 games, said: “No, what I am sure about and have been since the first day I was here is that I am here and will be committed every day that I work at this club.
“I will say now what I will say tomorrow and on Sunday. Nothing has changed because I will complete my work every day and will work 100 per cent for this club.
“I look at it like the situation when players perform well and other clubs try to approach the owner of the club.
“I am working as normal and at the moment I don’t know if there has been an offer or not, or what has happened. This is the moment for the owners to talk to each other about the situation.”
OPINION
Silva’s comments will worry Watford fans greatly. The usual response to questions about the future is dismissive in nature, and yet Silva has directly responded and refused to rule out an exit. He even admits that he is waiting for the owners to sort it out. In many ways, it is what Hornets fans would have expected, but some will still be hoping to hold on to the Portuguese. However, Silva may have weakened his position with much of the club’s fanbase with his comments, and some may even now want him to leave after this open admission.