Everton majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri reluctant to part with £15m for Watford boss Marco Silva

Everton majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri is unwilling to part with £15m ($19.8m) to prise Marco Silva out of Watford's grasp but is still targeting the Portuguese manager to be the figurehead of a major overhaul at Goodison Park.

The troubled Toffees have yet to appoint a permanent successor to Ronald Koeman, who was relieved of his duties a month ago after overseeing a dreadful start to the season. Under-23s boss David Unsworth has stepped into the breach in recent weeks and has watched over one win, one draw and three defeats.

Unsworth was believed to be Everton chairman Bill Kenwright's first-choice to succeed Koeman, but Moshiri holds other ideas to the theatre impresario and is targeting a stellar name to man the touchline at Goodison Park.

The Everton chief has already seen a £10m offer for Silva rejected by Watford, and is reluctant to meet the Hertfordshire outfit's £15m demand for the former Estoril boss, according to The Mirror. Silva may now have to quit his post at Watford in order to ensure a move to Goodison materialises.

Further reports claimed that Watford will not entertain any offers for Silva, who is tempted to join Everton despite initially not having any interest in leaving Vicarage Road, and he attempted to remain coy when pressed about a move on Friday.

"I am working as normal and at the moment I don't know if there has been an offer or not, or what has happened," Silva said.

"This is the moment for the owners to talk to each other about the situation, but Everton is not the club where I work. I can tell you Everton is a big club, nothing more."

Everton are certainly finding it difficult to land Silva, but Moshiri is determined to appoint the highly-regarded manager and see him lead a major revival on Merseyside. The Toffees are languishing near the bottom of the table this season but Moshiri is choosing to look up rather than than down, and is hoping the appointment of Silva could help his side attract players such as Paris Saint-Germain forward Edinson Cavani, according to The Times.

Cavani has been in stellar form for PSG, who are comfortably leading Ligue 1 after an incredible summer spending spree. El Matador has scored 21 goals already this season and has further magnified his reputation as one of Europe's deadliest strikers alongside the likes of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.

The Uruguay international was briefly linked with a move to Everton earlier this season, but the Toffees may have to look elsewhere for the time being as they bid to stave off relegation.