Watford stand firm over Marco Silva despite £10m offer from Everton
Despite the strength of Everton’s interest, and Silva’s interest in speaking to them, Watford have been resolute in their stance all week
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Watford are standing firm in the face of renewed interest from Everton in manager Marco Silva.
Everton have been trying all week to prise Silva away from Vicarage Road and have offered £10million in compensation for the Portuguese manager. But Watford rejected Everton’s opening offer, made on Monday morning, out of hand.
Negotiations through intermediaries have continued since but when Everton tried to renew direct contact on Wednesday they were rebuffed.
Despite the strength of Everton’s interest, and Silva’s interest in speaking to them, Watford have been resolute in their stance all week. They do not want to lose their manager in November – it is club policy not to change during the season – and because Silva does not have a release clause, they have no reason to negotiate with Everton.
No sum of compensation, they believe, would be worth the disruption of having to replace Silva at this stage in the season. Next summer they may be more open to compensation offers for Silva, but not now.
The result is a deadlock and the onus is on Everton, or on Silva himself, to break it. If they do not then Silva will simply continue as Watford manager. He is due to give a press conference at Watford’s training ground on Friday, ahead of their match with West Ham United this weekend. Everton, meanwhile, must continue their search for Ronald Koeman’s successor elsewhere.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments