Everton manager Marco Silva says Anthony Gordan is close to a first-team appearance.

The 18-year-old, who made his debut in 2017, has been training with the first-team on a regular basis.

"Really close. Close," Silva told the Liverpool Echo when asked if Gordon was close to call-up.

"I will tell you, unfortunately for him, it is maybe the area of the pitch where we have the most quality. Maybe it is the position where the competition is hardest.

"Of course, he can play in the three positions in our attack line and we are talking about different players but he has more or less the same profile as Richarlison, who can play left, right or can play behind the striker, or even alone upfront.

"Unfortunately for him, when you look for out-wide positions these are the positions where we have more solutions and different solutions, more solutions but since we took him to work with the first-team every single day I am always seeing improvements.

"Even in moments when he doesn't do all the session with the team, he is always aware of everything, trying to learn everytime. When he is doing something individual with one of my staff, he is always trying to improve and you can see results."