Farhad Moshiri has told Jim White of Talksport that Everton are close to appointing a new boss and have a shortlist of three names.

Everton have been searching for a new manager after they sacked Ronald Koeman over a month ago.

David Unsworth has taken interim charge since but has only won one game from a possible six, overseeing the club’s exit from this season’s Europa League and an abysmal 5-1 defeat at the hands of Atalanta at Goodison Park.

In a statement he sent to Jim White on TalkSport, Moshiri told White that “the first priority is to stabilise the club” and to “finalise the appointment of a manager.”

Moshiri’s statement added that the Blues are ‘close’ to hiring a new boss and have whittled their shortlist down to three possible names.

Watford boss Marco Silva is still believed to be a target of Everton’s, despite the reports suggesting the Blues have given up the chase on the Portuguese manager.

The Blues are believed to have been ready to pay close to £20 million to pry Silva away from the Hornets but have been rebuffed three times in their chase for the 40-year-old.

A drawn out process

Since sacking Koeman towards the end of October, Everton should have acted much quicker in their search for a boss.

Languishing towards the bottom of the Premier League for the first time since Roberto Martinez was in charge and with a relegation battle a possibility for the first time in a long time, speed was needed.

Instead, like many things Everton do, it’s been slow and drawn out.

Targets have reportedly been identified, contacted and then a waiting game has ensued. Unemployed bosses have put their names into the hat only to then pull out of the race due to a perceived lack of urgency from the club.

Unsworth, after a difficult start, has righted the ship domestically with a win and a draw in the last two games. Sunday’s trip to Southampton, after Thursday’s dire result against Atalanta, will be much difficult than last weekends trip to Crystal Palace.

The interim boss has failed his audition and will likely return to his role as under-23’s manager but that doesn’t mean the club must fail to secure their top targets.

Possible names involved

With Moshiri’s statement revealing that a shortlist of three has been drawn up, speculation will now turn to who may be on that list.

Marco Silva is still expected to be one of three but the other two are up in the air.

Former England boss Sam Allardyce reportedly holds an interest in the role, despite saying he was pulling out of the race a couple of weeks ago.

Moshiri, apparently chasing another big name like he did with Koeman, was apparently contacted by Diego Simeone’s representatives about taking the role at a later date but not during the middle of a turbulent season.

The focus from the majority shareholder and club chairman Bill Kenwright will likely be looking at the short term, keeping the club in the Premier League this season after such a disastrous start.

VAVEL Logo
About the author
Connor Bennett
Everton editor for VAVEL UK - contributing since 2015. Premier League accredited journalist. Journalism graduate from Liverpool. Writing about Football, eSports and the NFL. Email: [email protected] | Twitter: ConnorBennett14