• Everton manager admits his own English skills must improve • ‘Richarlison has settled in well but he has to learn English’

Marco Silva has told his summer signings Richarlison, Bernard and Yerry Mina they have to learn English to immerse themselves in the Everton squad.

Richarlison made an immediate impact on his Premier League debut with two goals at Wolves but off the pitch, Silva believes, the adaptation process has been slowed by the language barrier. The 21-year-old Brazilian’s compatriot Bernard and the Colombia centre-half Mina face the same predicament.

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Silva admits his English skills also need to improve – he often speaks in Portuguese during training – and is continuing to take lessons. The trio are under orders to follow suit as Silva seeks to avoid cliques developing in a new-look Everton squad.

“Richarlison has settled in well, he is a fantastic professional and a good boy,” the Everton manager said. “But he has to learn as much English as he can and we are pushing him on that because it is important for him and for us. He is doing it but he needs to improve his English. That applies to me as well. I am learning it all the time. I have already told Bernard and Mina. They have to learn English as well.”

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On Richarlison, Silva added: “Everybody likes him and he is enjoying the environment. He performed very well last week but we have to be calm with him. He is a young boy with a big talent but we cannot put all the headlights on Richarlison.”

Mina has a minor foot injury and will not play against Southampton. Phil Jagielka is starting a three-match ban, so Kurt Zouma is vying for a place with Mason Holgate for a starting role at centre-half. The Brazil international Bernard could also feature but has not played a game since leaving Shakhtar Donetsk at the end of last season.

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The manager explained: “The only issue they have, and it is an important one, is that they didn’t play one pre-season match. Bernard’s situation was different to Zouma because he didn’t train with a squad in the summer. Zouma was training every day at Chelsea but without playing in one friendly match, and they are important as well. In this moment Zouma looks in a better condition than Bernard. Bernard worked really hard during this week and now it is a question of us giving him more time to be in a better condition.”