Silva survival fight puts Southampton, Watford and West Ham on stand-by
Marco Silva could have his pick of four Premier League clubs if he keeps Hull City in the Premier League.
Silva admitted he would need to perform a footballing miracle to rescue Hull from the drop after succeeding Mike Phelan in January, yet he has managed to drag the club out of the relegation zone with three games remaining.
That has alerted a number of topflight rivals who are now watching to see if Silva completes the great escape ahead of potential summer approaches.
Hull are desperate to keep him, but the Portuguese will have plenty of options once his contract expires at the end of the season.
He has not ruled out staying at the KCOM Stadium, but Watford, Southampton and West Ham United all have Silva on their radar if they make managerial changes. As first revealed by The Daily Telegraph, Watford manager Walter Mazzarri is fighting to save his job despite his side reaching 40 points, while Southampton will consider Claude Puel’s future.
West Ham will review the position of Slaven Bilic at the end of a difficult season and, if the club do make a change, then Silva will appeal to co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold.
Hull entertain relegated Sunderland on Saturday and victory would give their survival hopes a huge boost. Silva’s popularity demonstrates a remarkable turnaround in perceptions of the 39-year-old after his appointment was widely derided by former players and pundits.
Away from the Premier League, Silva has also been linked with the Porto job in his native Portugal and there is further interest in him from elsewhere in Europe.
Other than having to weigh up the future of Puel, Southampton will have to fight to keep left-back Ryan Bertrand and central defender Virgil van Dijk this summer.
Van Dijk wants to join Premier League leaders Chelsea, while Bertrand is understood to be interested in a move.
Manchester City are in the market for a left-back and have placed Bertrand on a list of players they are interested in, while Liverpool like the 27-year-old and Chelsea admire their former player.
Bertrand still lives near Chelsea’s Cobham training ground, but would be equally interested in a switch to City or Liverpool.