Watford are lining up former Italy coach Giampiero Ventura as a replacement for Marco Silva if he joins Everton.
The Hornets have stood firm refusing the Toffees advances for their Portuguese coach, who only arrived in the summer from relegated Hull City.
But despite their tough stance, Watford are sounding out possible replacements and Ventura is on the list of possible candidates, according to Tuttosport.
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The 68-year-old coach is out of work after being sacked by Italy for failing to lead them to next summer’s World Cup.
But his humiliation with the Azzurri has not put off the Pozzo family, who hired Ventura to manage Udinese for a year in 2001.
Ventura also had a good spell before the Italy job with Torino.
He took the Turin side from Serie B to establish them back in Italy’s top flight and in 2013 finished seventh in the league.
Ventura also helped launch the careers of Manchester United defender Matteo Darmian and Lazio striker Ciro Immobile.
It’s still unclear in Italy if Ventura is ready to step back into management so soon after his failure with the national side, who will not be at the World Cup finals for the first time since 1958.
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Watford have not been afraid to hire Italian bosses with Gianluca Vialli, Gianfranco Zola, Giuseppe Sannino and Walter Mazzarri all taking charge of the Hornets.
Silva has already had a huge impact on the club, who sit eighth in the Premier League and go to Newcastle on Saturday.