Silva plays down record signing’s price after he nets two on debut

EVERTON boss Marco Silva has defended the price tag of club-record signing Richarlison.

The Brazilian forward silenced critics of his reported £40m transfer from Watford by scoring twice on his debut as Everton drew 2-2 at Wolves on Saturday evening.

Richarlison (right) was on hand to open the scoring from close range after 17 minutes and he restored the visitors’ lead with a well-taken curling effort in the 67 th minute.

Silva said: “For me, the figure is not important and it is not important talking about it every time.

“If a club pays that money it is because that is his value in the market, and it’s not only our club paying this money for one player.

“It’s a fantastic start, with fantastic work and fantastic behaviour, and with his talent, in some moments he can score.”

Wolves’ success last season was built on clean sheets, especially at Molineux, as they marched to promotion as Championship winners.

Nuno Espirito Santo knows his team must remain hard to break down in the Premier League and he was unhappy at conceding two goals at home. “At home I think we cannot concede two goals. We must improve,” he said.

“One of the things we had last season was clean sheets. This is the first step in the game, you have to be organised in defence.

“We cannot make the mistake of thinking that the next time it will be easier. It’s not.

“We have to get back to clean sheets. You have to be organised in defence and start from there.”