One of the big stories of last week’s January transfer deadline day was the late approach from French giants Paris Saint-Germain for Everton midfielder Idrissa Gana Gueye.
Ultimately, despite offering an increased bid reported to be worth £26.1million to the club, we held firm and didn’t fold and the Senegalese international will remain with us now until at least next summer.
Late PSG Twist In Chase For Everton Midfielder As The Minutes Tick Down
The 29-year-old signed from Aston Villa for a deal reported to be in the region of £8-10million at the time and he’s quickly established himself as a lynchpin in midfield, breaking up play and getting us on the attack (when we remember how to) and he does have 92 starting appearances to his name, with three further showings from the bench.
He last featured for us in the FA Cup defeat to Millwall prior to deadline day and for many, he’s been curiously missing since.
Speaking live to Sky Sports during Saturday’s Soccer Saturday programme (2/2 prior to kickoff) pundit Paul Merson believed that Silva would’ve made any sale decision purely based on his own future at the club given our current struggles.
“If the manager’s got a say in this, I don’t think he can afford to get rid of him and lose two more games. So I think he was thinking of himself at the same time. Deep down he’s probably thinking, ‘if I had another 10 points, I’d probably let you go son and get a dream move, but I can’t do that. My future is on the line here and I need you here for me’. Being maybe a bit selfish.”
I’m sure Marcel Brands would’ve asked for Silva’s opinion, but I doubt he had the last say. Even if he did, is it ‘selfish’ to point out PSG’s bid came so late in the day that it was impossible for us to secure a replacement and given he’s under a lucrative contract already, it’s not ungentlemanly to insist he honours that contract in the best interests of the club.
I don’t think so.