Gilmour fee is set in stone if he opts to exit

StEWARt Robertson last night confirmed Rangers had agreed a fee for Billy Gilmour if the sought-after Ibrox starlet decides to join chelsea this summer.

Sportsmail reported earlier this week that the English Premier league leaders were confident of winning the race for Gilmour by striking a £350,000-plus deal to sign him when he turns 16 in June.

Managing director Robertson insisted Rangers still hadn’t given up hope of the Scotland youth international staying to continue his development under new manager Pedro caixinha.

Pressed on chelsea’s intensifying interest, however, Robertson admitted it was financially prudent for the Ibrox side to have an agreement in place should those pleas be rebuffed.

‘We have got a position agreed if he was to go,’ said Robertson of Gilmour. ‘I won’t tell you the number but there is a position agreed.

‘It would be negligent of us not to have done that in terms of the governance of the club, but we’d rather not get the money and Billy stayed and went on to have a great career at Rangers.

‘We need to protect our position and do the sensible thing because if he goes in the summer without a deal being agreed then he leaves only for a compensation amount.

‘that would be a helluva lot less than if we had a fee agreed beforehand. We have protected our position on that side of things but we’d like Billy Gilmour to stay at the club.

‘Everybody on the football side thinks he’s a fantastic talent and he’s still only 15.

‘It would be great to see a boy like that develop and stay here to get a lot of game-time and go further.

‘I think (SFA performance director) Malky Mackay said: “do we really want to see him get lost in a big academy?” I hope not because he would certainly be looked after here and be given an opportunity.’

Asked what he felt the chances were of Gilmour staying beyond the summer, Robertson added: ‘I think there’s a reasonable chance — we’ve done all we can.

‘We’ve tried to sell Rangers and the opportunities to him in the best possible way on the basis of his career going forward. We’d give him a platform to go forward.

‘But if there are other big clubs, then we’re all human and his head could be turned. We believe we could give him a platform to have a terrific career going forward.

‘When will there be a final decision? I don’t know for sure. Hopefully sooner rather than later because then everyone knows where they’re going, going forward.

‘He’s under contract until he is 16 in June. Ultimately in that situation the player has the power to some extent. there is only so much you can do. You put your best foot forward and we’ve done that.’

Robertson said the club were back in the process of considering options for a director of football, having put the process on hold around the time of caixinha’s appointment.

He declined to put a timeframe on the arrival but insisted the club would also make a ‘chunky sixfigure investment’ to bring their scouting structure up to scratch.

‘It won’t be there on day one but it will only take a few months to get it in place,’ said Robertson.

‘It’s fundamental — the board have signed it off and it will happen. It will be a decent investment because we need to build a proper scouting and analysis network and not just in the UK.

‘We need to look at where we will get value for players and start to look at the European market.

‘I’m not saying we will fill the team with European players but we need to have a mix.

‘If we are to close the gap then we have to close the revenue gap. How do you do that? Well, one of the revenue streams we’ve not had has been player trading.

‘We need to look at how we trade the squad and make money off that and it will be a key part of it going forward.’

the other appointment currently being considered is a ‘local’ assistant with Rangers knowledge to complete caixinha’s backroom staff.

Barry Ferguson, John Brown, Peter lovenkrands and Jonatan Johansson have all held discussions with the Portuguese.

‘I don’t know if (an appointment) will be this week,’ added Robertson. ‘Hopefully, sooner rather than later but again it’s more important that we get the right man.

‘Pedro is conducting the interviews because he’s the guy who has to work with him.

‘It’s really important that he feels he can build a relationship and build a trust with the person coming in, so we’re leaving that up to him and the final decision on who he wants to go with.’