Marco Silva has confirmed Everton will only spend "big" on young players this summer but insists the club remain open to adding experienced names too.
Silva has backed up Marcel Brands' revelation that the Blues plan to make any significant investment in targets aged 20-25/26 this summer as another squad revamp is planned.
But the
Everton manager insists the club will not rule out signing players older than that even though the "model" is to pursue younger targets.
In January, majority shareholder
Farhad Moshiri conceded Everton may have to pay hefty transfer feesto land some of Europe's emerging talent but said they would command lesser wages than players with more experience.
The latest set of club accounts revealed the Blues' wage bill had risen to £145m and Brands is tasked with reducing that further as he prepares to enter his second year at Goodison.
Everton signed players with an average age of less than 24 last summer and though repeat business is being lined up, Silva says he and Brands will always remain open to recruiting players outside of the preferred age range.
"You can prepare a model and have an idea," Silva told the ECHO.
"To spend an big, big, big amount it is better to spend like we spent on Richarlison, on Mina, on Lucas. The players you can see who have five or six years to play at our club or you make some profit, whatever can happen.
"But sometimes it is not that easy to be black and white. There is that grey in the middle and at some moments in a season and in the market, you have to do something different.
"It is not something that is always black and white, sometimes it has to be grey, but as a business you have to think in this way and try and find these type of solutions but in some moments you can change a little bit because it is football.
"Sometimes we will have a target, aged 24, but you cannot get him so you have to change a little bit.
But when Marcel spoke, he spoke about our general idea, for sure."
Everton are expected to make several senior players for sale this summer with Kevin Mirallas, Cenk Tosun and Oumar Niasse among those likely to leave.
Ashley Williams, 34, is out of contract and will be released while Goodison veterans Phil Jagielka and Leighton Baines are also coming to the end of their deals with decisions on their futures not expected until the end of the season.
But Silva insists adding a player in his 30s is not out of the question.
"What me and Marcel, and what we want, is to improve, within our possibilities as a club," he said.
"We did that last summer and it is our obligation to do this summer also.
"We have to look at all of the aspects: age, their quality, how they are as a professional, the wages - everything is a package and after that we have to take the best decision for us as a club."
