Paul Merson has suggested that Marco Silva had to keep hold of Idrissa Gueye in the January transfer window because his future at Everton is on the line.
The Toffees were said to have rejected a bid of around £26million from PSG towards the end of the transfer window, as reported by Sky Sports, with the midfielder having established himself as one of the first name’s on the team sheet on Merseyside.
Speaking as a pundit on Soccer Saturday (Sky Sports News, Saturday February 2nd, 12pm), Merson argued that Gueye had to stay at Goodison Park because of the increasing pressure on manager Marco Silva.
He said: “He’s an important part of their team. As a holding midfield player, he’s decent. I know he’s 29, but PSG have got a lorry load of money.
“I think if they’d gone up to £35million they would have dropped him off, but I think at that kind of money, I think they probably would want to keep him.
“If the manager’s got a say in this, I don’t think he can afford to get rid of him and lose two more games. Deep down Silva’s probably thinking ‘if I had another 10 points, I’d probably let you go son’, but his future’s on the line here.”
OPINION
It’s an interesting point that Merson makes, and there’s very probably an argument to be made that Gueye should have been sold on regardless of Silva’s precarious position. Nearly £30 million for a 29-year-old defensive midfielder is a lot of money to turn down, and for all Everton aren’t in a great position, they are in a strong enough place to make some decent profit and still be okay for next season. It’s getting to a point now where Everton just have to write this year off as a learning curve, and really look to build next season. The Gueye money would have gone a long way to help doing that, and for all they have made a statement by not just rolling over in front of one of Europe’s elite, their stubbornness may ultimately be looked back on as folly in a couple of years the when the midfielder is getting ready for the scrapheap.