Arsenal have reportedly failed in a last gasp attempt to snatch seemingly Chelsea bound Rangers wonderkid Billy Gilmour.
As per a report from the Scottish Sun, Arsenal have failed in a last-gasp attempt to hijack Chelsea’s pursuit of Rangers prodigy Billy Gilmour. The youngster has rejected the notion of moving to the Gunners and is currently pondering whether to stay at the Scottish club or to move to Chelsea.
The report states that while he and his family had taken a tour of the premises and the Emirates, with both impressed by the state-of-the-art facilities available, the player himself is not keen on a move to Arsenal. With Arsenal out of sight, Gilmour is now deciding on whether to stay at Ibrox or to move to Chelsea.
Billy Gilmour is a 15-year-old Scottish prodigy, who has come up through the ranks at Rangers. The player has already started training with the first-team and appeared for the Under-20 side for Rangers while also starring for the Scottish Under-17 side as well.
Former Rangers manager Mark Warburton had earlier talked to Gilmour, explaining him that staying at Rangers would be the best option in terms of development and first-team opportunities. Even Pedro Caixinha, the new manager at Ibrox, has iterated that he has talked to the player and his family in an attempt to influence him to stay here.
Pedro Caixinha meets with parents of 15-year-old Billy Gilmour in bid to convince the youngster to stay at Ibrox: https://t.co/hDD4DgB9eS pic.twitter.com/hVrwAoKAPK
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) March 31, 2017
Rangers have already accepted Chelsea’s offer, which sees the club pocket an initial compensation fee of £500,000 and the club chiefs fear that Gilmour may have already accepted Chelsea’s offer. However, he can only move when he turns 18, in July.
Chelsea, too, are confident of landing the 15-year-old. The Blues have been tracking the player for a while now and had decided to move quickly to secure the player, who will be allowed to choose clubs in the summer, a time when most of the top clubs who had shown interest in the player could come in for the player.
The likes of Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Barcelona would have all become potential competitors for Chelsea in the pursuit of Billy Gilmour. It is interesting to see Arsenal come in with a late offer and it will be intriguing to see whether any of the aforementioned also attempt to do the same.
