Seven goals is great but Richarlison can get even better, says Silva

Marco Silva will face Watford, his former club, tonight certain there is a lot more to come from the striker who followed him to Merseyside.

The Everton manager was sacked by Watford in January after just nine months at Vicarage Road, with his former employers suggesting Silva had been illegally approached to take over at Goodison Park.

That remains the subject of a Premier League inquiry but it did not stop Watford allowing Richarlison to follow his manager north in July for a fee which could reach £50million. With his midweek goal against Newcastle taking his season’s tally to seven, the Brazilian has been an undoubted success, but Silva – who also brought the player to Watford from Fluminense – believes Richarlison will only get better.

“He’s a player who needs to score, a striker who I think needs to score often to keep his confidence high,” said Silva. “Of course, he already scored seven, he didn’t play in two games after the red card [against Bournemouth in August]. So I think that’s seven goals in 13 games. It’s a good number.

“He can do better, I’ve no doubts about that, because he has the quality to do better. He’s working to improve as well. And I’m happy with him, of course.”

Adding another striker is seen by many as a priority for Everton next month but Silva insists he is happy with his squad. “I don’t like to talk all the time about this type of striker people say we need or not,” he said. “Every time when you look through your squad, you can improve it.

“Everything we can do in the future in the January market or the summer market is not the most important thing for us at the moment because we are happy with the squad we have. We have to work with them, to develop them and to give them the conditions to prepare well.”

Silva also prefers to play down the significance of his first meeting with his former club. “The first day I joined Everton, I said the past is not important to talk about,” he said. “Big respect for all the clubs I have worked at so far, not just Watford but all the others.

“It’s one more match; a tough match. It will be good to see a big part of their players, very good professionals that I’ve worked with as well, some friends as well, but it’s one more match.

“It’s true they are playing with 80-90 per cent of the players I know. But even the players that joined them this season have high quality.”