Marco Silva had ample opportunity to quell the mounting speculation linking him to Everton during his pre-match press briefing for Sunday’s visit of West Ham – he did little to do so.

Nearly every question came with a Toffees tilt after a week in which Watford have rejected two offers of the princely sum of £10 million for their coveted head coach.

Watford’s resolve to hold onto the 40-year-old is evident but Silva’s desires remain less clear, despite a lengthy grilling at the hands of the assembled press.

Rather than pin his colours definitively to the Vicarage Road mast, Silva opted to leave the ball in Watford owner Gino Pozzo’s court, suggesting Everton and his current employers hold control over his future.

“What I feel is I respect what Everton want and I respect what Watford answer. This is the truth. When you have these type of situations the clubs need to talk,” Silva said.

“What I can tell you about the situation is I look at it like with some players when they play well, or the same with a coach and somebody makes an approach to the board.

“I do not answer whether I want to talk to Everton about the offer. I read many, many things during the week and the media wrote I didn’t want to talk with anybody and then said I wanted to.

“I need to talk with my owner, my board and with my players as well, but nobody else.”

Silva’s stock reached an all-time high after he came close to saving an abject Hull City from the drop last season after taking over in January.

A flying start to life at the Watford helm, which saw the Hornets jostling for a top four berth, has given way to a poor run of three straight losses, but Silva remains hugely well thought of.

The timing of Everton’s approach is, nonetheless, inconvenient as Watford look to arrest their slide against the Hammers on Sunday.

Silva moved to assure fans his focus remains intact despite the off field distractions and argues his opinion of the offer matters little.

“Whether I am interested or not, it is not important. I can’t control these situations,” he said.

“What I am sure of and they (fans) have felt since the first day I was here is how committed I have stayed. Every day I will work in the club and they cannot be in doubt about this.

“It is not about what I say here, tomorrow or on Sunday, nothing changes. Everybody in the club knows how I commit and work every day and how I give 100 per cent for this club.”

When quizzed on whether his goals lie in managing at a club of a bigger stature than Watford, Silva once again proved elusive.

He did, however, claim his ambition can only translate into positives for the Hornets while he is in charge.

“I put my ambition in the club and I came here with ambition. The club knows that and sometimes I want more and more for the club,” the Portuguese said.

“Sometimes I put a normal amount of pressure to improve everything because I want more. This is my job and I understand why everybody talk about my ambition.

“My ambition is clear every day in the training ground and I want the club to improve.”