Everton manager Marco Silva says Alex Iwobi was a top target of the club despite Toffees desperate move to acquire the services of Wilfried Zaha from Crystal Palace.

The winger made a shock deadline day move to Goodison Park after it became obvious their prime target, Zaha, was not wiyhin their reach.

Everton failed with a £30m offer for attacking midfielder Iwobi on Wednesday and by 2pm on Thursday appeared to have accepted defeat in their bid to land the 23-year-old.

But having met with frustration in their attempts to sign Wilfried Zaha, the Toffees revived their bid for the Nigeria international and concluded a deal with Arsenal at around 4.30pm, giving Iwobi the green light to complete his whirlwind switch.

He told the club’s official website: “Alex was one of our main targets for this window and I believe he is a fantastic signing for Everton. He is a direct and skilful winger and attacking midfielder who always works very hard for his team.

“He is still young but already with a lot of top-level experience – 100 Premier League matches, more in Europe and many international games

“It was important for me to have one more quality option for our attacking positions to add to what we have with Richarlison, Bernard and Theo Walcott.

“Alex fits exactly the profile of player I want in my model. He is hungry to join Everton and take the next step in his career, to help us compete with the strongest teams in the league and reach his potential at our club.”