Marco Silva has spoken out about the possibility of Everton signing Andre Gomes on a permanent deal this summer. The 25-year-old has been in fine form for the Blues and admitted he was happy at Goodison Park after struggling for playing time at Barcelona.
Gomes made 78 appearances for the Catalan giants, scoring and creating seven goals. The Portuguese international made 50% of those appearances from the bench and was substituted off in the remaining 27%. He’s enjoyed an upturn in form since joining Everton and Silva is trying to make the loan deal permanent.
The Everton manager told the Liverpool Echo: “We already have (an idea). Of course, when I am speaking to him, we have to say what we can say in this moment. To be 100% honest with you, we did nothing yet about the situation because all of our focus is on the season.
“But I am working with Marcel, we are planning everything, and with time – which is different to last season. We maybe know more than you about the Andre position and all these things, but all we can say to you, is what he said.”
Gomes has made 25 appearances for the Merseysiders this season, playing in 23 consecutive Premier League outings after returning from injury in October. The central midfielder has impressed alongside Idrissa Gueye and Gylfi Sigurdsson, but he may not be cheap to sign permanently.
Barca paid £29m to bring him to the Camp Nou in 2016 and gave him a contract worth £3.2m-a-year/£61.7k-per-week. Everton have only signed two players for more money – Gylfi Sigurdsson (£45m from Swansea City) and Richarlison (£50m from Watford) – but Gomes could soon rival them.