Everton boss Marco Silva insists Fabian Delph has not been signed as a replacement for Paris Saint-German and Manchester United-linked Idrissa Gueye.
The Toffees have splashed out £10 million ($12m) on luring an England international midfielder away from Manchester City and Delph could slot seamlessly into a holding role at Goodison Park.
His presence may allow Gueye to seek a dream move elsewhere, with the Senegal international having made no secret of his desire to link up with PSGafter missing out on a switch in January.
Silva, though, has no plans to part with the 29-year-old and claims Delph has not been acquired as a contingency plan.
The Portuguese told the Liverpool Echo: “I will answer direct to this question.
“They are two completely different players. Gana plays in one role, Fabian can do the role of Gana but he doesn’t come to our squad to replace Gana.
“Gana is still our player and, of course, if we lose Gana then we have to sign a player to replace him because you are talking about one player playing almost all of the games in our squad.
“If it will happen then we have to replace him, it is not because we have signed Fabian Delph.”
Silva is eager to convince Gueye that he can form part of an ambitious project on Merseyside, with there no need for him to chase a move to the Ligue 1champions.
He added: “I have to talk with him and show him how he is an important player for us.
“To be honest, even if it was a fantastic opportunity for him, the behaviour of Gana after that period was very, very good and he lost a ‘dream’.
“He always gives 100% and his best. He said to me in that period that he had that dream but for us as a club it was really tough to take to lose a player like him.
“I think we took the right decision and after that Gana proved that with his best season at Everton, in my opinion.
“Let’s see what the market will say again about Idrissa and we are here to take the best decisions for us as a football club.”
Gueye is currently away on international duty and preparing for an Africa Cup of Nations final clash with Algeria.
Source:Goal.com