Everton boss Silva pencils in post-Afcon talks with Gueye amid PSG links

Everton manager Marco Silva says he is planning to discuss Idrissa Gueye’s future when the midfielder returns from international duty.

Gueye will be aiming to clinch the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal when Aliou Cisse’s side take on Algeria in the final on Friday night.

Could Gueye leave Everton? Five things to know…

• Gueye was the subject of intense interest from PSG in January.
• A bid in the region of £26.2m was reportedly rejected by Everton but speculation has resurfaced.
• The Toffees recently recruited versatile midfielder Fabian Delph from Man City.
• But Silva has refuted claims Delph is a direct replacement for Gueye.
• The Portuguese tactician is now scheduling to hold talks with Gueye upon his return from Egypt.

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The midfield enforcer has demonstrated in Egypt exactly why Paris Saint-Germain were courting his services six months ago, with the 29-year-old playing a key role in the Lions of Teranga’s journey to the final in Cairo.

Thomas Tuchel’s side sought to entice Gueye to the French capital in January, but the Merseyside club rebuffed their efforts, and while many believe the recent recruitment of Delph may signal an end to the Senegalese’s Everton career, Silva has swatted away suggestions that the two correlate.

Speaking to Liverpool Echo, he said: “They are two completely different players. Gana plays in one role, Fabian can do the role of Gana but he doesn’t come to our squad to replace Gana.

“Gana is still our player and, of course, if we lose Gana then we have to sign a player to replace him because you are talking about one player playing almost all of the games in our squad.

“If it will happen then we have to replace him, it is not because we have signed Fabian Delph.

“I have to talk with him and show him how he is an important player for us.”

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Silva discusses Delph role

Although Delph was often utilised in a more defensive role during his stint in a Manchester City shirt, noticeably as an auxiliary left-back, Silva has revealed that he has signed the England international to function as a more forward-thinking midfielder.

He added: “For me he is a box-to-box player and Fabian performs better when he is a box-to-box player.

“Of course, he can play as one of the two midfielders with an offensive midfield player, the role we are giving to Gylfi and one that Bernard and Tom can also play there and even Andre because he did in Valencia, and so Fabian can play in that role in our 4-2-3-1 formation we played last season.

“He can also play as an offensive midfielder and can give us more opportunities than we had last season.

“When I said he can bring different solutions it is to play a 4-3-3 with two offensive midfielders, plus one more positional midfielder.

“But the position I can see him performing well is as a box-to-box midfielder player because he has this capacity to do that.”