Date: 6th September 2022 at 4:30pm
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Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel decided to sanction the sale of Billy Gilmour, not owner Todd Boehly.

What’s the word?

That is according to journalist Simon Phillips, via GIVEMESPORT, who has shed light on the situation that saw the highly-rated Billy Gilmour join Brighton on transfer deadline day.

As per the report, the topic of Gilmour’s future at the club arose a mix of opinions, with the Chelsea hierarchy not all on the same page.

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, Phillips said:

“I’m told on this one, Todd Boehly and the other Chelsea owners didn’t want to sell. This was Thomas Tuchel’s decision, and if it all goes wrong, this is all on him.

“I think it’s a big mistake selling Gilmour on a permanent deal unless you’ve got a really good buy-back clause in it, but to reiterate, Boehly wanted to keep Gilmour; Tuchel wanted to sell him and Tuchel was being 100% backed.”

A decision that could cost Tuchel

As Phillips states, selling Gilmour on a permanent deal without a decent buy-back clause represents a big mistake if that is the case.

Whilst the 21-year-old endured a lacklustre spell on loan at Norwich last season, he was not exactly blessed with the best platform to showcase his ability – which is mainly throughout the in-possession phase.

Norwich ranked 16th in terms of the average possession table in the Premier league last year, averaging 42.6% possession.

So a move to an astute side like Brighton, who ranked as the fourth highest team in the average possession stakes last season with 54.5% possession makes a lot of sense on a personal level.

Though, from Chelsea’s perspective, Gilmour could develop into a real string-puller in the middle of the park for Graham Potter’s side, and if that is to be the case, Tuchel will be left with egg on his face over the permanent sale of a player who fits directly into Boehly’s “top talents” strategy of drip-feeding young players into the Blues first team.

 

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