Silva explains why he sold Lookman – why he made the right call
Marco Silva has opened up on his decision to sell Ademola Lookman this summer, in an exclusive interview with the Liverpool Echo.
According to the Everton boss, Lookman was once again not for sale this summer with the England youth international to play a part in Silva’s plans, however his determination to leave forced Everton’s hand.
The former Charlton Athletic winger had asked to leave last summer, and Silva had shot him down. When Lookman asked to leave again at the end of last season, Silva was tempted to say no once more, but Leipzig’s offer made the club rethink their plans.
The 21-year old joined Leipzig in a deal worth around £22.5million, double the price Everton paid Charlton for him in 2017, marking a nice bit of profit for the Toffees.
Speaking to the Echo, Silva admitted he still rates the player very highly, and that he wished things had worked out differently. On why Lookman left, Silva said:
At the beginning of last season he spoke to me about his desire to leave the club. I said no, no and no, even if we received a very good offer to sell him, for our structure, no because I saw in him, and I keep seeing in him…(his quality).
If you are asking me about my technical point of view, if I would like to sell him, I will say no.
At the end of last season he came to see me in his office to tell me what he was thinking, about his desire, his future and what he would like to do.
I respect his opinion but I said to him ‘you are in my plans again’.
Then came an offer to the club, and like you know I don’t like to talk about this side of things, but he had just two years left on his contract with us and so then we are talking about many, many things.
It is not just a technical point of view because my opinion about Lookman is the same about as last season. I don’t have doubts. He has all the qualities to have a very good career. The quality is there, he has to change some things, but the quality is there. The most difficult thing, he has – the quality and the talent.
In football you many people with talent who don’t achieve but I believe he will achieve good things in his career.
Should Everton have held firm over their stance that he was not for sale?
Read Everton Verdict
This interview makes me feel a lot better about the situation. Silva’s quotes are fascinating, and he really harps on about how determined Lookman was to leave, and how much he was pushing for the move.
I thought Everton shouldn’t have let him go. He’s a strong young talent who will only get better, but to hear how desperate he was to leave, despite any inclination that he could become a star at Goodison Park, I accept that the club didn’t have much of a choice to make.
Ideally you want every player at Everton to want to be there, but sometimes you can get buy with a few who aren’t bought into the project. But when someone is that determined to get out, you have to let them go. Best of luck to him in Germany.