Marco Silva is reportedly being eyed at by former club and Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon for a shock return to the Liga NOS side.
This comes from O Jogo via Sport Witness, who claim that the Everton manager is one of the many names who have been ‘approached’ by Sporting following the dismissal of Marcel Keizer earlier this month.
Yet despite the Portuguese club handing U-23 manager Leonel Pontes the full-time gig as reported by Noticias ao Minuto, with Sporting giving the former Portugal assistant coach a two-year deal, speculation has yet to die down as to who should manage the European giants in the long-term, and Silva’s name has been mentioned.
Indeed, a move back to Sporting would be somewhat poetic for Silva.
The Everton boss made his name in managerial football at the Liga NOS side after guiding the club to the Taca de Portugal in the 2014/15 season, their first trophy in seven years.
However, Silva was sacked in extraordinary circumstances as reported by The Daily Post, with Sporting opting to replace the soon-to-be Olympiakos coach with controversial manager Jorge Jesus due to seemingly harsh reasons, such as missing one official club meeting and failing to wear an official club suit for a league game.
With Everton’s form in the Premier League currently seeing the Toffees sit in 14th place in the table and a visit from the champions Manchester City coming up later this afternoon, a return to Portugal isn’t as far-fetched as first thought.
Tensions have been mounting between supporters and the manager as reported by The Guardian, and after a summer where Silva spent a reported £107m on new players according to Transfermarkt, it seems likely that if results do not improve in the blue half of Merseyside, then the Portuguese manager could be out the exit door at Everton, and out of England for good.