Silva denies Mario deal but reiterates desire to sign Gomes

Marco Silva has denied reports linking Everton with a move for Inter midfielder Joao Mario.

It was claimed last week that the Toffees had been offered the chance to sign the former West Ham loanee for around £15million.

Silva worked with Mario for a season at Sporting so is familiar with the player and his attributes.

However, it seems those rumours of a reunion at Goodison Park are wide of the mark.

Speaking to Portuguese outlet O Jogo, Silva said:

“João Mário is a player of Inter and there is nothing more than that.

”He was my player, I was the one who put him in the main team of Sporting. He had a very good season, but at the moment he is not on the table.”

In a wide-ranging interview, Silva also re-iterated his desire to sign Andre Gomes on a permanent deal from Barcelona.

“There is a Portuguese player in the squad that we want, which is André Gomes.

“The signing of him does not depend on us alone, if that were the case, we would have already done it, it also depends on Barcelona and André Gomes.

“He was very important to us and we were important to him as well, he is a great player with an excellent quality.”

Silva also revealed his ambitions for next season, which includes attempting to break into the top six and - perhaps more significantly - challenging in both cup competitions.

Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images

The biggest disappointment from last season was the failure to make an impact in the cups, with Everton’s trophy drought now destined to move into a 25th year.

It appears Silva has got the message:

“Looking back at last season season, we have to say it was a positive one, and we will do everything we can to win the FA Cup and the League Cup next season.

“We are doing well in the market, being smart in the way we are going to approach the market , trying to maintain the level we have, not letting our most important players leave, which gives us the ambition we want to do better.

”This year we finished eighth, for next year we will try to end up and, if we can, try to meddle in the big six.”