CHELSEA EYE £350K DEAL FOR GILMOUR

CHELSEA are confident of winning the race for Rangers youngster Billy Gilmour and are poised to pay £350,000 to land the Scotland prospect when he turns 16 in June. The English Premier League leaders are confident they will be able to complete the deal as soon as Gilmour becomes eligible. Manchester United, Manchester City and Bayern Munich were among the clubs to have scouted a player who has already trained with the Rangers first team. Chelsea swung the argument following a visit by Gilmour to their Cobham training ground, where the academy staff stressed the advantages of joining the London giants. The

Stamford Bridge club has built a major reputation for developing players and then moving them on to other clubs, often in the English Premier League or major European divisions. The midfielder starred for the Rangers Under-20 side — and outshone Celtic wonderkid Karamoko Dembele for Scotland in this season’s Victory Shield tournament. Rangers fans have been told not to give up on their hope of seeing Gilmour pull on the Light Blue jersey at some point, though, with former Chelsea and Scotland star Pat Nevin telling Sportsmail: ‘I wouldn’t rule out seeing Billy playing for the Rangers first team at age 17. And I’d love to see that happen. ‘Two or three years from now, Chelsea will tell him he’s going out on loan and ask him where he thinks would be best. I would not be surprised if he just said: “Rangers”.’