Marco Silva has spoken out about Everton supporters' online campaign to bring Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma back to the club.
The France international impressed on loan at Goodison Park last season, so much so that he was the club's first-choice central defensive target when the summer transfer window opened.
However, the Toffees and Silva were handed a massive blow when new Blues head coach Frank Lampard insisted Zouma was part of his plans this season.
As a result, Silva has confirmed he will look to pursue other targets before Thursday's deadline.
Although it's pretty clear who the Everton fans want.
On Friday, Blues supporters launched a social media campaign which got the hashtag '#FreeZouma' trending on Twitter. But when asked for his thoughts on the matter, Silva didn't want to be drawn on discussing the 24-year-old.
"No I don't look [on social media]!," he told the ECHO . "What is the priority is the central defender, when cannot go through a tough season with Mason [Holgate], Michael [Keane] and [Yerry] Mina - even if the boy [Lewis] Gibson is working with us, he's not ready yet for this level.
"I don't like to talk about Zouma, because he's not our player.
"I don't need to repeat anything about him.
"Our fans' reaction shows everything about what we as a club and me as a manager think about him.
"But it's not fair for me [to comment] first because I have to respect the defenders we have here even if they know we want one more, and Zouma is a Chelsea player. It's not the moment to talk about him.
"If it's not Zouma, it has to be another one with quality to improve our squad and to give competition."
Latest rumours suggest Everton could turn to another Chelsea centre-back before deadline day.
Sky Sports News claim the Merseyside outfit are exploring a move for Fikayo Tomori who spent last season on loan at Championship outfit Derby County under Lampard.
