Billy Gilmour ’s decision to leave Chelsea now looks even more of a gamble with the young midfielder now set to be under the stewardship of a new manager at the AMEX Stadium.
The Scottish playmaker completed a late switch to Brighton & Hove Albion having chosen to leave Stamford Bridge on a permanent basis. Gilmour’s move away from Chelsea was expected to be a fresh start on the South Coast - particularly under such a forward-thinking and progressive manager such as Graham Potter.
Unfortunately for the young Scot though he now faces another tricky period in trying to adapt to a new manager with Potter having been poached by Chelsea.
Having failed to impress at both Stamford Bridge and during a loan spell with Norwich City last term, Gilmour can unlikely afford to go under the radar once more as he attempts to arrest his stuttering development.
That is not to say that the 21-year-old doesn’t have time on his side or the ability to forge a successful career in the Premier League. During his breakthrough in West London under Frank Lampard, Gilmour earned comparisons to former Manchester United hero Paul Scholes having been labelled “world class” by Roy Keane.
Speaking about those comments at the time, Lampard said: "He’s right, I heard the statements he made about Billy and I think he’s spot on. Billy should be happy with that and if he can go and follow the ideas that someone like Roy Keane says when it comes to midfield play he won’t go far wrong."
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"Paul Scholes is obviously one of the greatest midfield players I’ve played against in the Premier League. He would always pick the right pass, he had incredible range. If you did try and jump from midfield and get to him and get close to him he’d just play it around the corner because he knew you were coming.
"Billy has shown early signs of that kind of ability. I’m not comparing him to Scholesy, no way at all, but in terms of those basics that you mentioned, then Billy certainly has them and that’s a great platform to build hopefully a fantastic career."
Whilst those comparisons might not have proven useful and could have contributed to his career prematurely stalling, Gilmour now has to put those out of his mind as he attempts to forge his own path at Brighton away from the glaring spotlight of Stamford Bridge.
Of course, it remains to be seen who will take the reins on the South Coast and whoever that man may be, he could well make Gilmour a key cog in his midfield - in which case, there will be no reason for concern.
Whether he gets that opportunity is only an answer that will be answered throughout the duration of the four-year contract that he has signed at the AMEX but it is down to Gilmour to make his gamble to leave Chelsea a success.
