Chelsea win race to sign Rangers youngster Billy Gilmour
Chelsea have agreed a deal to sign 15-year-old playmaker Billy Gilmour from Rangers, the Scottish club have announced.
Chelsea have agreed a deal to sign 15-year-old playmaker Billy Gilmour from Rangers, the Scottish club have announced.
Gers had been desperate to cling on to the highly-rated Scotland Under-17 international, but they have now admitted defeat after the schoolboy prospect made it clear he wanted to move to the academy set-up at Stamford Bridge.
A fee worth a reported £500,000 has now been agreed between the clubs and Gilmour will make his move this summer.
Although he has not featured at first-team level, Gilmour has trained with Pedro Caixinha's squad this season.
A number of high-profile clubs had been chasing the teenager, including Arsenal, Manchester United, Barcelona and Bayern Munich, but it is Chelsea who have won the race.
Rangers said in a statement: "Rangers can confirm that agreement has been reached for our under-16 player Billy Gilmour to join Chelsea in the summer.
"The club's preference would have been for Billy to stay at Rangers but when he made clear his desire to move to the Premier League it was important that we maximised the commercial value for him. We believe we have done this.
"The agreement will provide Rangers with a significant sum for a young player who has yet to play first-team football, and further significant amounts could be due based on milestones being reached. We are pleased with this outcome and believe this deal represents good value for Rangers.
"That he was sought after by many Premiership clubs, and indeed a number of the largest clubs in Europe, further demonstrates the quality of player now being produced by the Academy. Everyone at Rangers wishes Billy well for his future."