(Reuters) - Everton manager Marco Silva is confident midfielder Idrissa Gueye will get over the disappointment of being denied a move to French champions Paris St Germain and has backed the Senegalese to keeping giving his best for the Premier League club.
Everton rejected several bids from PSG for the 29-year-old in the January transfer window, including two on deadline day, and British media reported that Gueye had pleaded with club officials to be allowed to leave Merseyside.
"Of course it was a good opportunity, but it was a fantastic opportunity for him to stay with us also," Silva told his a news conference ahead of Saturday's visit of Wolverhampton Wanderers.
"When one club like PSG comes for one player, normally he will start to think on his future. But now he has stopped. The market has stopped."
Silva said he had spoken to Gueye, who is ruled out of the Wolves game with a minor groin injury, adding that he was confident the player would not be a disruptive influence in the dressing room.
"When this type of chance comes and, for some reasons the players don't go, my job is to put them strong again, to work with them, to develop them, make them better players," Silva added.
"To be direct with you, I don't have doubts. When this minor (injury) problem that he has in this moment is gone, we will see the same (Gueye) on the pitch. We don't have doubts about that. We are talking about a professional player with a strong character."
Everton are eighth in the table, two points behind and one place behind Wolves.
(Reporting by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)