Marco Silva has insisted he has ‘a very, very strong’ connection with Fulham – and revealed that detailed discussions over a proposed contract extension will wait until after Sunday’s final game of the season against Manchester City.

Pressed again on his future at Craven Cottage during this afternoon’s pre-match press conference at Motspur Park, the Portuguese head coach insisted that face-to-face talks with Fulham chief executive Alistair Mackintosh had yet to begin. Silva said:

“We didn’t even start. I know there are some rumours around that I refused something from my side, it’s not true at all. Our connection is very, very strong. It is clear there are so many things to be careful about with players’ contract situations. There are many important decisions ahead with the summer coming up after a great season where we improved – like all the other years before.

We managed to reach some great numbers again – the best Premier League points tally in our history – and if you want to improve, you have to focus on the most important things. I’m not saying the manager’s situation is not important but I’m under contract with the club. I just wanted to clarify that the conversations [with Fulham] didn’t start [yet] and that’s not for professional reasons, but it was just not the [right] moment.”

Silva also said that negotiations between Fulham and the representatives of Kenny Tete and Tom Cairney are ongoing as he hopes to key the experienced pair in SW6 beyond this summer.

“You all know that between the football club, and Kenny and Tom Cairney, there have been discussions, conversations with their representatives, their agents, and all that stuff. We already started conversations some time ago, and let’s hope we can have good news soon. I’m not in the conversations, as you’d expect, it’s not for me to negotiate with the agents and all that stuff. I’m just waiting for the good news from the club.”