Chelsea being able to capture the signature of Declan Rice would prove one of the club's biggest transfer wins in some time given the clear interest from both Manchester clubs.
New encouragement would have come from West Ham's inactivity in the January transfer window which limits David Moyes' options as The Hammers hope to secure Champions League qualification.
Rice is valued at around £100m but given the player's recent rejection of contract offers and ambition of the talent means that it looks a strong possibility the England international could be up for grabs in 2022.
But his potential arrival is likely to impact another Cobham graduate.
The Telegraph reported on Tuesday evening that Rice’s West Ham teammates are concerned that the club’s star player will be tempted away by one of the country’s biggest clubs should a Champions League bid fade away.
With Chelsea deciding not to spend on transfers in January, the expectation is that this upcoming summer will provide a period where Marina Granovskaia will attempt to negotiate deals for Thomas Tuchel's favoured targets.
But one player that might be forgotten from the impact of signing Rice is Billy Gilmour.
The Scottish midfielder burst onto the scene when he starred under Frank Lampard in the 2019/20 season. From there it appeared that Gilmour would become another name in the growing list of academy graduates to improve the first-team.
Gilmour's first loan away to Norwich City has not gone perfectly, yet to play a game in 2022 so far after suffering an ankle injury last month.
Consistently impressing for club and country, the 20-year-old starlet is a player many feel could be a linchpin in Chelsea's midfield for many years as he develops him game.
But investing heavily on Rice, who is only three years older than Gilmour, would be seen as a long-term project on a player who still has his prime years ahead of him.
You could even argue similarly on another major target in Aurelien Tchouameni, a Ligue 1 talent the club have been tracking for a long time and hope to finally bring to west London this year.
Both would be seen as first-team upgrades and that's not even accounting for the current midfield cast of Jorginho, N'Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Gilmour has gained valuable, albeit challenging, experience at Carrow Road this season being involved in a relegation scrap with The Canaries.
His 12 Premier League starts might be lower than what was anticipated when he joined Norwich last summer, but it probably supersedes what he would have got under Tuchel.
If Gilmour returns at the end of this loan with more minutes but the reality of both Rice and Tchouameni to compete with would another loan be suitable? Or like other academy products, could his eyes turn to a permanent departure?
Chelsea have shown a willingness to insert buy-back clauses into the sales of Tammy Abraham, Tino Livramento and Marc Guehi, three players who could return in the future should the opportunity arise.
Profiles of players like Rice and Tchouameni are both ones Chelsea need in the market and missing out on them could be costly.
But Gilmour's potential also seems quite lofty and this summer may prove telling for where that potential is going to flourish.
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