“99 per cent done”

Everton are closing in on the appointment of Marco Silva as their new manager.

Silva has already spoken to new director of football Marcel Brands , Sky Sports report the deal to be “99 per cent done” and The Independent expect official announcement of his three-year deal this week.

Silva rose to prominence guiding Estoril from the brink of bankruptcy into the Europa League before winning the Portuguese Cup with Sporting CP and the Greek title with Olympiakos. During two brief spells in the Premier League he nearly saved Hull City from relegation before starting well at Watford before being dismissed mid-season. Tom Ferguson profiled Marco Silva for us;

When Marco Silva retired from professional football he was appointed Director of Football at Estoril. In that same season he was made manager with the Canarinhos sitting 10^th in the second tier of Portuguese football. A run of only three losses in 24 matches saw them crowned champions and promoted to the top flight.

Silva massively overachieved at Estoril, he led the minnows to fifth and fourth place finishes in the Primeira Liga.

His impressive tenure at Estoril didn’t go unnoticed. After 116 games in charge, with 54 of them ending in victory, he was picked up by Sporting CP in 2014.

He was awarded a four year contract but only lasted a season in Lisbon where he guided the club to third place as well as lifting Portugal’s premier knockout tournament, the Taça de Portugal after beating Braga 3-1 on penalties following a 2-2 draw.

Bizarrely, Silva was sacked just four days after lifting the trophy for not wearing an official club suit during a cup match against F.C. Vizela earlier in the campaign.

During his short spell as Sporting boss he only lost seven matches out of a possible 53, with a win ratio of 58.5%.

His impressive CV meant he wasn’t out of work for long, just a month later Greek giants Olympiacos appointed him as manager. However, he only spent a season at the club due to ‘personal reasons’, but his record there stands out.

In his 48 games as boss, he won a staggering 38, losing just seven which gave him a win rate of 79.2%. The league title was wrapped up with six games left and Silva had orchestrated a 17-game winning run, smashing the previous Greek league record of 11. He also downed Arsenal 3-2 in the Champions League group stage.

After his resignation in June he was out of management until January 2017 when he was tasked with sorting the mess that was Hull City. The Tigers had just sacked Mike Phelan and were at the foot of the Premier League table. In the end Silva was unable to save them from the inevitable but masterminded memorable wins over Manchester United and Liverpool before he quit in May.

Two days later, it was confirmed Silva would join Watford as head coach on a two-year deal. After game week 10 Watford were the talk of the town. Silva had taken a side which finished 17^th in the 2016/17 season up to seventh.

An approach from Everton coincided with a dramatic decline in fortune for Marco Silva’s Watford – he would only last for 14 more Premier League fixtures, a run that saw them pick up just three wins and drop  to 10^th. Silva was sacked on January 21 and Watford did not hold back when explaining who was at fault.

The club stated that an ‘unwarranted approach by a Premier League rival caused significant deterioration in both focus and results to the point where the long-term future of Watford FC has been jeopardised’ was the reason for Silva’s dismissal just months into a two-year contract.

With Everton trying to break into the illustrious top six narrative set up by Sky, Silva is a man who throughout his career has defied expectations and is not afraid to set his side up to attack better sides than his own, something Evertonians won’t have seen since the days of Roberto Martinez’s first season at the club.

But defensive frailties haven’t been too far away from Silva during his time in the Premier League.

Sorting a defensive unit that shipped 58 league goals in 2017/18 won’t be easy and especially difficult for a man who has been on the wrong end of 6-0 and 7-1 home losses against Manchester City and Tottenham in England.

It’s not clear how Silva would do at Eveton if he is appointed, but the movement around the club this week has been nothing short of positive.

Massive boardroom shifts and the appointment of Marcel Brands can only help the next man to take the Goodison hot seat be a success.