Silva keen to secure permanent Gomes deal

Gomes made a season-long loan move from Barcelona on deadline day to become the third player to swap the Camp Nou for Goodison Park after Lucas Digne and Yerry Mina penned permanent deals with the 'Toffees'.

A Portugal international, Gomes has shown his undoubted quality to good effect so far this season to turn in the sort of performances that earned him his £35m move to Barcelona in the summer of 2016.

However, with his career in Catalonia thought to be as good as over, Silva says he wants to take advantage of his fellow countryman's lack of desire to return to his parent club to push through a permanent move in January.

"There are three parts to any deal - us, Andre and Barcelona," Silva explained. "We have to go step-by-step and in the right moment. Of course our owner and our board will find the right moment to try to do something and will do everything we can to achieve it.

"But it is not just one decision that is in our hands. If it was in our hands, we would possibly move faster because it is impossible to be more happy with Andre than we are in this moment.

"Everything he is doing - his performances, how he is enjoying it, how he has settled in our dressing room as a man and as a professional - is quality... I already knew him before we signed him and everything we spoke about is coming out in the training sessions and in the matches."

A hamstring injury meant that the 25-year-old was unable to make his Everton debut until late October, but Gomes has quickly stamped his mark on the Everton engine room alongside Idrissa Gueye and Silva says everyone is now asking him about the classy playmaker.

"I don't like to talk about him every time but that is impossible because everyone wants to know about him," Silva continued. "That's normal because he is playing fantastic. That is a good thing, believe me it is a good thing.

"It is much better than everyone asking me why Andre is not playing or not able to play. That means we are doing the right things with him and he is doing fantastic. Let's see what we can do and when is the right moment to do it as well."

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