This summer could yet see a return to Ibrox for a former academy graduate if recent speculation linking Chelsea’s Billy Gilmour with a move back to his boyhood club are to be believed.
The Athletic this week had an in depth article on his early development through to his decision to leave Rangers when Pedro Caixinha was in charge but it was the comments of Craig Mulholland, who is head of the academy, that were most interesting, particularly when discussing his departure:
“You work closely with the boy and the parents and a number of clubs. If there is a point when you think the boy is no longer going to remain at the club what you need to do is get the best commercial deal for Rangers. At that point, you then speak to other clubs.
“The deal we got was a significant number at the time and has some more significant add-ons after that, which are a positive for Rangers. It has a really good sell-on so every time he does well with Chelsea or makes his debut for Scotland, for example, there is a further return for Rangers which justifies the investment in the academy.
“It’s not part of the business model we ever want as we want to retain our best talent and get them to the first team as there is even more value there but in every academy in the world we will always have players leave as part of player trading.”
It had previously been thought that there were no add-ons in Gilmour’s contract other than the £500,000 fee, however, with a Champions League winner’s medal in his back pocket and a senior Scotland cap to his name, Rangers could be in for an unexpected bonus this summer.
I for one would love to see him back, he’s a player of generational talent and, even if we are developing someone else’s player, because we were the ones who brought him up from such a young age, he would only be finishing the journey he started with us.