Scotland international Billy Gilmour has been tipped with a loan move to Rangers, with new boss Michael Beale potentially looking to reinforce his squad in January.
Gilmour departed the Ibrox for Chelsea in 2017 at just 16 years old, and in his first few seasons at Stamford Bridge, Gilmour had immense expectations on his shoulders with some impressive performances in the first team under ex-manager Frank Lampard. But, after an underwhelming loan move to Norwich and a permanent transfer to fellow Premier League club Brighton and Hove Albion, the now 21-year-old finds himself on the bench more often than not.
It's believed that Gilmour would be open to a move away from Brighton in January in a bid to get some game time, with a Rangers return potentially on the card for the Scotsman. Speaking about Gilmour on Go Radio, former Celtic man Andy Walker feels "his heart is probably in Scotland with Rangers at Ibrox, but I'm not sure he would want to leave the Premier League in England."
So, if Rangers were to bring Gilmour back to Glasgow on a short-term loan in January, could the midfielder help them rediscover their best form? We simulated the rest of the season to try and find out.
We 'signed' Billy Gilmour for Rangers as a January transfer
To set up this simulation, we used the Football Manager 2023 editor to arrange for the Brighton midfielder to make the move to Glasgow on January 1, 2023, using FM23 to run the simulation. We then simulated the remainder of the 2022/23 season to see what sort of impact Gilmour could have on his return to the Ibrox.
Gilmour was slotted straight into the starting XI by Beale, starting in a 2-2 draw against Celtic just one day after making the move to Rangers. The midfielder would go on to make 23 appearances in all competitions during his six-month stint with the Gers, establishing himself as one of the best players at the club.
The midfielder started every game he featured in, with 18 starts coming in the league and five in the Scottish cup. The 21-year-old was used in a more attacking role than defensive, and that was reflected in his goal contributions as Gilmour tallied two goals and eight assists under Beale.
His best game for the Gers came in a 5-0 win over Motherwell, with the Scotsman scoring one and assisting two, registering a rating of 9.6 out of 10. Gilmour also boasted an incredible 94% pass accuracy across all competitions, the best in the Rangers squad.
When compared to the rest of the Light Blues players, Gilmour also averaged the most passes per game (84), registered the third-best average rating per game and won the player of the match award seven times, just two less than James Tavernier, the best the squad, despite making half the amount of appearances.
Tavernier averaged a rating of 7.35 by game, whilst Connor Goldson (7.32) has the only other player to register a higher rating than Gilmour. Only Tavernier (11) and Glen Kamara (13) registered more assists than Gilmour, whilst Antonio-Mirko Colak continued his incredible goalscoring form throughout the season, ending the campaign with 21 goals.
At the end of the 2022/23 season, Football Manager 2023 put together an overall best Rangers XI, based on performances, statistics and other metrics. This is what it looked like:
Full Rangers best XI: (3-4-2-1): McGregor; Tavernier, Goldson, Davies, Barasic; Kamara, Lundstram, Gilmour; Matondo, Colak, Kent.
Gilmour was deployed on the left of a midfield three, and the 21-year-old was joined by John Lundstram and Glen Kamara in the best XI, with Beale recalling the latter to the Rangers line-up. Rabbi Matondo was chosen over Fashion Sakala and Scott Wright on the right of the front three, whilst Colak beat Alfredo Morelos to the sole striker role.
Rangers' results with Gilmour from the 2022/23 season
Under the guidance of Beale and with Gilmour pulling the strings in midfield, Rangers drastically improved in the second half of the season. In combination with a major rough patch for Celtic, the Light Blues managed to close the current nine-point gap and push the Hoops to the final day of the season to decide the league winners.
But, three draws in their final three games saw Beale's side fall below Celtic after temporarily overtaking them, and Ange Postecoglou's side won the league by two points. Under Beale, the Gers won 15, drew four and lost four in the league, whilst Celtic won 10, drew 12 and lost one.
The Hoops drew seven consecutive games between February and April, allowing Rangers to close the gap and reignite the title battle. Beale's side ended the season on 82 points, whilst Celtic won the league with 84.
The biggest improvement for Rangers was in defence though, with the Light Blues conceding just 10 goals following Beale's arrival, becoming the best defence in Scotland. It wasn't all doom and gloom though, with the Gers finding success in the Scottish Cup.
After going behind early on in the final to St. Johnstone, goals from Colak and Matondo secured the trophy for Rangers, with the latter scoring the winner in the 88th minute. Beale's side were eliminated in the semi-final of the League Cup though, losing 1-0 to Aberdeen.
Overall, FM23 predicts that if Gilmour was to make the move to Rangers in January, the midfielder could improve the Light Blues in the second half of the season, helping the Gers win a trophy and fall just short of winning the league under Beale in the simulation. The Scotsman was a dominant force in midfield, ending the season as one of Rangers' best players, despite his short time at the club.
Do you think Gilmour would be a good fit at Rangers? Let us know below!
READ NEXT:
- Leon Balogun reveals Rangers heartbreak at Steven Gerrard exit as he admits permanent 'blue fever'
