Report: Boehly tried to convince ‘fantastic’ player to stay at Chelsea, but he wanted to leave permanently
Todd Boehly reportedly tried his best to convince Billy Gilmour to stay at Chelsea this summer, despite the manager’s desire to sell him.
According to The Athletic, the player’s desire to not be loaned out again eventually saw him get his wish to leave the club on a permanent basis.
The Scotland international was subject to a deadline day move to Brighton, with him seemingly perfectly suited to Graham Potter’s managerial style and system at the Amex stadium.
Unfortunately for him though, Potter was quickly determined as the number one target for the Chelsea managerial position, after Thomas Tuchel’s shock sacking last week.
The Athletic have claimed that Boehly tried to highlight the upcoming situation to Gilmour, although obviously without revealing in detail that a managerial switch was upcoming.
Boehly tried to keep Gilmour
Either way, the American’s efforts fell short and the 22-year-old ended his stint at Chelsea without featuring this season.
It was made clear early this summer that Gilmour was not in Tuchel’s plans, with him being sent away from the first team’s pre-season tour of the United States.
This eventually led to him not being handed a shirt number for the upcoming campaign, with all signs pointing to a move away from the club.
This is all despite Gilmour impressing at both club and international level in the past, with Jose Mourinho describing him before as “fantastic”.
It would have been interesting to see if Gilmour would have been able to flourish in a Potter-led system, with him potentially being just a new manager away from beginning to thrive at Stamford Bridge.
Conor Gallagher, who currently remains at Stamford Bridge despite Tuchel’s reported desire to let him go, will be hoping Potter’s introduction may benefit him too, with him so far this season being played out of position due to injury problems for some of the club’s first team options.
