Silva’s targets

Marco Silva has identified his transfer targets for the summer with director of football Marcel Brands. He has told the Liverpool Echo that the club are now pursuing the names put forward.

The Portuguese says Everton ‘have’ to make the signings they have targeted.

Everton are also set to begin their cull of the first-team squad. Several players are set to be moved on as Silva and Brands reshape the squad.

(Photo credit should read JOSEP LAGO/AFP/Getty Images)

Lopez wanted

Everton are reportedly interested in the signing of David Lopez from Espanyol. Mundo Deportivo claim that Everton, Valencia and Real Betis are all said to be keen on the player.

However, Everton are not willing to meet the €40 million (£35.4 million) release clause for the player. Instead, they hope to wait and see if it comes down to around €30 million (£26.5 million).

The Spanish defender, who can also play in midfield, was previously linked with Everton back in January.

Shaw not sure

Manchester United defender Luke Shaw has rejected a move to Everton, according to The Times. They claim he had a chance to resurrect his career at Goodison Park but decided he wants to remain at Old Trafford and fight for his place at the club.

He has struggled to regain his place in Jose Mourinho’s side since suffering an awful leg break.

Everton are looking for a new left-back, with Leighton Baines approaching the end of his career and no first-team back-up.

Marco Silva certainly enjoyed his first game as manager of Everton. The Portuguese watched his new side secure a 22-0 win against fourth-division Austrian opposition in rampant fashion. He also saw a player who looked on his way out of the club net five goals. Kevin Mirallas led the scoring charts in the game and his future is clearly a talking point at Goodison Park.

The Belgian spent the second half of last season on loan at former club Olympiakos. But it did not go well. He was eventually told to no longer attend training as the club’s owner decided to move him and many others on amid the Greek side’s struggles.

Things did not end well at Everton before the loan move either. Mirallas’ last game was the 4-1 loss to Southampton in November, one of the low points of Everton’s season.

Mirallas however, as Everton fans know, is an exceptional talent. He was only handed a new contract until 2020 last summer, so he has value to Everton.

(xxxx during the Premier League match between Brighton and Hove Albion and Everton at Amex Stadium on October 15, 2017 in Brighton, England.

On his day he is an exceptional winger or secondary striker. His finishing exemplary, his passing and crossing brilliant, Mirallas is a player Everton could use.

With others in his position, such as Ademola Lookman and Kieran Dowell, young and promising, having the experienced Mirallas around could make sense.

Scoring five goals in yesterday’s friendly won’t have any bearing on such a decision, given the opposition. But it is a reminder that Mirallas is still around and capable of providing something to this Everton team.

Everton are currently being linked with a move for Newcastle United captain Jamaal Lascelles. At the start of June, Everton were first linked with a £30 million move for the player. The Northern Echo reported last week  that Everton were ready to step up their interest in the player, in the wake of West Ham’s apparent interest.

It would, of course, be a fantastic signing. Everton need a new central defender with Barcelona’s World Cup star Yerry Mina also linked.

But Lascelles has been one of the Premier League’s most underrated defenders and it would be a brilliant swoop.

Newcastle, however, are adamant the player is not for sale. Everton should, therefore, be careful because when it comes to Lascelles, they have previous.

(Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

Back in January 2014, Everton were fined £45,000, as reported by the BBC. The fine was due to an unauthorised approach for a player. The player in question was Lascelles.

The fine related to a matter from four years earlier. Everton had seemingly made an approach for Lascelles, then on a scholarship deal at Forest, without going through the proper channels.

Lascelles’ agent at the time was also fined and the player himself was ‘severely warned as to his future conduct.’

So Everton’s interest in Lascelles dates back eight years to the David Moyes era.

Hopefully, for Everton fans at least, they can secure a deal for the player on this occasion.