Just as news of a potential transfer swoop for one talented teenager broke, another came along to trump it, this time for one of the Premier League’s hottest youngsters.
The Scottish Sun has reported that one-time Rangers academy kid, Billy Gilmour – hailed as “outstanding” on his Champions League debut – is being lined up for a potential short-term loan deal until the end of the season, with him more likely to get minutes playing in the blue of his former club as he looks to force his way into Steve Clarke’s Scotland plans for the Euros.
Gilmour – now rated at £6.75million on transfermarkt – infamously left the Gers as a fresh faced 15-year old who had already been training with the first-team at Auchenhowie under Pedro Caixinha, the Portuguese boss, to his credit, made every attempt to persuade him to stay in Glasgow but was unsuccessful.
He is definelty the “one that got away” and fans will always wonder if things might have been different if he had come through with Steven Gerrard in charge, Rangers were a shambles at the time he made his decision and for all that he may have moved on one day, his formative years could well have been spent turning out for his boyhood club.
The Scotland youth cap is highly rated by Gerrard’s former England teammate, Frank Lampard, at Stamford Bridge and given that he has put in man of the match performances on his full debuts in the cup, Premier League and now the Champions League, any transfer will only be temporary, even if Chelsea are said to be open to the idea.
Rangers midfield is purring along nicely just now but given the volume of games we are playing, it is no longer a case of one player being dropped for another, the gaffer has rotated regularly and Gilmour would fit in nicely, it would also allow us to see something that many felt we were robbed of, one of our own starring in a Light Blue shirt.