Marco Silva wants Sandro Ramirez to stay at Everton amid interest from Real Sociedad.
Sandro featured in the Blues’ 3-1 win over Rotherham United in the Carabao Cup despite a second loan spell in his native La Liga in the offing.
The striker spent the second half of last term with Sevilla after struggling to adapt to life on Merseyside following a £5.2 million arrival from Malaga.
But Silva, speaking after the second round victory, admits that he remains keen to keep Sandro in his ranks beyond Friday’s European transfer deadline.
He said: “[No matter] what happens in the next days with Sandro, I believe in him.
“He showed me tonight again how he’s a fantastic professional and for me it’s not a surprise.
“We have to wait [to see if] something could happen but now is not the moment to talk about it.
“Even if I know something could happen in the next hours with him and something Sandro is trying to find, I would like he can stay in our squad because he’s a player I believe [in].
“Sometimes the players want to play more, they want to play in this position and sometimes it’s not easy to try to keep all of them.
“It will be a big competition with our players. It’s not easy to play in our starting XI for all – not just Sandro – and of course Sandro wants to play.
“Last season for him wasn’t the best. We will see what will happen.”