Marco Silva has defended Everton's activity in the transfer market, citing Jordan Pickford as an example of how the club can be rewarded for their willingness to spend big.

For the second consecutive close season, the Toffees forked out sizeable fees to bring in new players, with the arrival of Richarlison in a reported £40million switch from Watford raising eyebrows.

But Silva is pleased that Everton have spent the money required to improve the squad and now hopes that, like goalkeeper Pickford - a £30m recruit from Sunderland, the new additions can show their quality at Goodison Park.

"I can talk about one year ago when we took Jordan Pickford and everyone was talking in that moment," Silva told a news conference. "Now, nobody doubts his value. It's the value the club had to pay to take him here.

"With football and the market now, it's really difficult. When you believe in one player to improve the squad, you have to do everything that is possible for us as a club to sign these players.

"If the player performs well and helps us to achieve our goals, nobody will speak about the price of the player."

The new Everton boss was unwilling to entertain talk of a potential top-six challenge, however, insisting his aim is just to help the players thrive.

"The expectations? It is normal at a club like Everton. We want to win every game, do everything that we can to win our matches, and at the end we'll see our position," Silva said.

"I think everybody knows what our goal is, what we have to do here. Now is the moment to give time to these players, to work hard and to support them to do well."