Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has revealed his intentions behind the sale of young midfielder Billy Gilmour. Gilmour had made quite an impact in his debut season. He became a well known player for Chelsea after the match against Liverpool in the FA Cup. However, Brighton have now snapped up the player this season in a deal worth £7.5million. Naturally, Chelsea fans were upset with this sale as they lost one of their most talented youngster to a rival club. His departure was covered by the arrival of Juventus midfielder Denis Zakaria on loan.
Gilmour was loaned out by Chelsea to Norwich City last season. However, his performance with the Canaries was below par by miles. He looked completely out of depth in his time with Norwich. In the 21 matches in which he started for Norwich, he was able to provide only one assist. This was the reason Tuchel was not convinced with Gilmour’s performance. Speaking to the Chelsea website, Tuchel spoke up about Gilmour’s exclusion from the squad:
“We had high hopes. We expected more and he expected more so without pointing a finger, it is difficult for him and also for us to not play at Norwich, to be relegated, and then suddenly be a central midfielder for Chelsea, competing for top four and for every title. It is a huge step. So ideally it would have been another loan but Billy did not want to go on loan. It was a no-go for him and so in the end we agreed to a sale.”
Thomas Tuchel reported via Metro
Tuchel on Zakaria’s move to Chelsea
Denis Zakaria joined Chelsea on the last minute of the deadline day from Juventus. Zakaria joins Chelsea on a loan with an option to make the transfer permanent for £26m. Thomas Tuchel highlighted that this was a need as the two midfielders of Chelsea are constantly injured. Kovacic is just recovering from an ankle problem and Kante is out of action for several more weeks.
“It was related maybe not to the numbers that we ( Chelsea ) should have in midfield but actually have in midfield…..This was maybe a last-minute or last days option. That was kind of on top of what was needed. He gives us in my opinion a lot of options because he has a lot of speed, height and physicality to bring to this group. He can play in a back three.”
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