‘World-class’ star Chelsea sold for peanuts would be perfect at Arsenal or Man City

Robin Bairner

• 9 Nov 2024 10:05 GMT
• 3 min read

Chelsea have been told that they have allowed a “world-class” player to slip through their fingertips, with Billy Gilmour tipped for big things at Arsenal or Manchester City.

The Blues allowed Gilmour to leave for Brighton in 2022, and he has subsequently departed the Seagulls to move to Napoli, where he has made a promising start in Serie A under Antonio Conte following a €14 million transfer.

According to former Chelsea star Pat Nevin, the Scotland international’s full potential could be exploited to the maximum at either the Gunners or City.

Current ETV

Billy Gilmour

DM, M (C)

Napoli

Billy Gilmour

DM, M (C)

Napoli

€16.1M

ETV Range

€12.1M - €20.1M

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“I see a lot of him for Scotland and all the teams he’s played for and I believe that if you put him in the centre of midfield for Arsenal or Manchester City, he’d be just fine. He’s a good enough player to play there and it’d make sense,” Nevin said.

“He’s got the technical ability to do huge things in football. He holds the ball as well as any other player.”

Gilmour held back from £100m fee by one thing

Nevin has compared Gilmour to Jorginho, a player he believe would have been seen as invaluable had he offered more of a goal-scoring threat.

“Billy was coming through at Chelsea when Jorginho was in the centre of midfield,” said Nevin. “He’s a player who used to get a lot of stick from Chelsea fans and I used to tell people that he’d get into Manchester City’s midfield.

“People would argue that he didn’t score goals or do other parts of the game, but he was adored by those who understood his style. It was no surprise to me when he went to Arsenal, and I’d feel exactly the same about Billy.

“If the next move he gets is way up the ladder, I won’t be surprised. The only thing holding him back, and the only reason he’s not moving anywhere for £100 million is because he doesn’t create and score goals. He is world class at all other parts of the game, but that extra bit is what stops him getting that move.

“We’ve seen lots of midfielders like that, Mateo Kovacic was another during his time at Chelsea, who are held back by their lack of goal contributions. Some players are also looked upon differently because they’ve moved around a bit.”