Marco Silva all but ended speculation over his future by refusing to talk about Everton’s interest in poaching him from his Watford enclosure, on the back of news that the Toffees have turned their attention elsewhere.

On Wednesday, news broke that the Goodison Park club would be giving up their pursuit of Silva, which could have reached up to a reported £20 million to prise him away, because of the Hornets’ reluctance to let him go.

Everton first offered £10 million for the 40-year-old on November 13, then returned with the same figure later in the week, but both were rebuffed by owner Gino Pozzo.

Silva never publicly said the move interested him - but behind the scenes, sources made clear he was at least open to the prospect of talking to Farhad Moshiri and Bill Kenwright about their intentions.

The situation clearly irked Silva, who said after Sunday’s win over West Ham the situation was “out of his hands” and that he preferred to talk about the game - a line he repeated in today's pre-match press briefing ahead of Saturday's visit to Newcastle.

“I don’t like to talk about speculation and I want to talk about Newcastle,” he said. “You can ask Rafa Benitez about it if you want, but I will say no more about it.

“Sometimes I talk, and it is taken the other way – I won’t say one more word about it.”

Red Bull Leipzig’s Ralf Rangnick has now emerged as a surprise target to take over in the North West.