Marco Silva appointed Everton manager

Everton are close to confirming the appointment of Marco Silva as the club’s new head coach on a three-year contract. Multiple media sources claim that the announcement will come today that Silva succeeds Sam Allardyce, who was sacked a fortnight ago just three days after the end of the 2017-18 season.

The Portuguese manager was widely tipped to become the next Toffees boss the moment Allardyce was dismissed and it appears he was always the club’s favoured option despite being sacked at Watford FC.

The deal would complete a seven-month long pursuit of Silva by Farhad Moshiri, who originally wanted to appointed the 40-year-old in November following the release of Ronald Koeman. He arrives with a burgeoning reputation for producing teams that play pacy, forward-thinking football.

Silva started his coaching career in of 2011 with Portuguese second division side Estoril, with whom he had spent most of his playing career. He guided them to promotion to the top flight and then a place in the Europa League the following season before leaving for Sporting Lisbon in 2014.

He led Sporting to Portuguese Cup success but was sacked in June 2015 for reportedly for not wearing an official club suit during a match in an earlier round. Silva soon moved on to Greek side Olympiakos, where they won a record 17 successive games on their way to the title

Ever in demand, Silva then moved to Hull in January with the club bottom of the Premier League and three points from safety. He oversaw a revival in form that included wins against Liverpool and Manchester United but ultimately couldn’t keep the club in the Premier League and resigned shortly after the end of the season.

Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

He quickly moved on to Watford where he oversaw a fine start to the season that saw the Hornets win four and lose just one of their opening eight games to climb into the top four. However, that’s where it started to go wrong. The following week, 48 hours after Watford lost at Chelsea, Everton sacked Ronald Koeman.

Silva quickly became Moshiri’s number one choice to replace the Dutchman. The Hornets were understandably reluctant to let their coach leave just months after joining and rejected Everton’s multiple offers out of hand.

The manager’s head was clearly turned though and he even reportedly sounded out players he wanted to take with him to Goodison Park. He subsequently lost focus on the task in hand and Watford’s form nosedived, resulting in Silva’s sacking in January.

Despite officially being a free agent Watford still blame Everton for unsettling their former head coach and made an official complaint to the Premier League. That’s yet to be fully resolved but couldn’t prevent Silva from officially taking over at Goodison Park, though the whole saga has seen his reputation take a hit.

Silva’s arrival completes a whirlwind few weeks for the club that has seen the arrival of a new manager, director of football and chief executive. It’s encouraging that the club have those key positions filled early in the summer to allow work to begin on the playing squad.

Evertonians have got the fresh start they wanted, now it’s time for the real work to begin.