Marco Silva has scotched suggestions that he could be heading to Saudi Arabia by insisting that his ‘future is at Fulham Football Club next season’.

Frenzied reporting over the past couple of days had seen the Portuguese head coach linked with the vacant Al Hilal job ahead of this summer’s Club World Cup or as a potential successor to Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham Hotspur but, asked about his future during today’s press conference ahead of the Premier League meeting with Everton, Silva’s response was emphatic.

“About speculation, I will not go in that direction. I am completely focused on the club. Of course, there are always rumours, but what I can say to you right now is that my future is at Fulham Football Club next season.”

Silva insisted that he and his players haven’t given up hope on their two targets – qualifying for European competition next season and registering a record number of Premier League points.

“Fifteen days ago, we won against Southampton and our position in the table was a very good one. Because the league is so competitive, we lost a game and the table looks much more difficult. The other teams are fighting hard as well, but one or two results changes the table completely again. I want our players to be excited and to play with the enthusiasm that this moment of the season demands and deserves. We have to be the first ones to control our emotions, but we have to have the enthusiasm to keep training hard every single day and to prepare ourselves as best as we can.

To break the points record is something that is very important to us. We are not going to hide. Now we want to fight very, very hard to achieve the things that are there for us to achieve. When matchday comes, we have to perform at our best for the shirt. There are many things to fight for. Nine points to play for – and this [weekend] is another three points for us to fight for.”