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
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. 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