Billy Gilmour has admitted he wanted to stay at Chelsea last summer until he learned that he had to find a new club. The 21-year-old was once expected to enjoy a bright future at Stamford Bridge but he was controversially offloaded by Thomas Tuchel for just £9million.
Speaking in the official Brighton programme, as quoted by Sussex Live, Gilmour explained how he quickly became an outsider at Cobham training ground – which came as quite a shock. The Scotland international said: "After my (Norwich) loan, I still wanted to be at Chelsea, to be a part of their first-team plans but quite quickly in pre-season I knew that wasn’t going to be the case.
"But I didn’t want to go out on loan again, I wanted to find a home, to play for a team and be settled. I had other clubs interested but once I knew of Brighton’s interest, it was a pretty straightforward decision for me to make.
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"I haven’t looked back since – now I just want to play more games and keep progressing," added Gilmour. Then, when asked why he chose the Amex Stadium, he said: "I can see why Graham wanted to go to Chelsea, it’s a great club with great players but I put it behind me quite quickly.
"It was obviously strange, with Graham leaving a week after I signed but that’s football and while he obviously had a say, first and foremost it was the club that signed me, so I was happy with that.
"It was just a bit of bad luck on my part but Roberto De Zerbi has come in and honestly he’s been brilliant. Training has been intense, sharp, he wants everything at 100 per cent and the boys love him."
Gilmour featured 14 times for Brighton in the Premier League this season, often stepping in for Moises Caicedo. Despite not having played as much as he may have liked, Chelsea have been left to rue the decision to sell him to the Seagulls for two reasons.
First of all, the Blues are currently in the market for a new midfielder with N'Golo Kante, Mason Mount, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Mateo Kovacic expected to leave in the summer. Had Gilmour remained in west London, he would be primed for a pivotal role under Mauricio Pochettino alongside Enzo Fernandez.
Even if the Scotsman wasn't in the new Chelsea boss' plans, he would have been great leverage in the race to sign either Caicedo or Alexis Mac Allister – two of the most coveted midfielders in the Premier League at the moment. football.london understands that the Blues retain an interest in the former and could make a move in the coming weeks.
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