Pat Nevin has tipped Billy Gilmour to make a “move way up the ladder” as he believes the Napoli midfielder has “the technical ability to do huge things in football”.
Gilmour moved to Napoli from Brighton for £12m in the summer and has forced his way into Antonio Conte’s midfield, starting their last four Serie A games to help them to the top of the table.
The 23-year-old was tipped for greatness having come through the Chelsea academy but found game time hard to come by under Frank Lampard and then Thomas Tuchel before moving to Brighton for £8m in the summer of 2022.
And Nevin believes Gilmour has the quality to dictate play for the very best Premier League clubs.
Speaking to BetVictor, Nevin said: “I knew about Billy Gilmour before he joined Chelsea when he was at Rangers, but most people first remember his game against Liverpool where he dominated the match. I see a lot of him for Scotland and all the teams he’s played for and I believe that if you put him in the centre of midfield for Arsenal or Manchester City, he’d be just fine. He’s a good enough player to play there and it’d make sense.
“He’s got the technical ability to do huge things in football. He holds the ball as well as any other player.”
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Looking back on his time at Chelsea, Nevin compared Gilmour to former Blues midfielders Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic, suggesting it’s only their lack of goal contributions preventing them from being considered £100 million players.
“Billy was coming through at Chelsea when Jorginho was in the centre of midfield,” said Nevin. “He’s a player who used to get a lot of stick from Chelsea fans and I used to tell people that he’d get into Manchester City’s midfield. People would argue that he didn’t score goals or do other parts of the game, but he was adored by those who understood his style. It was no surprise to me when he went to Arsenal, and I’d feel exactly the same about Billy.
“If the next move he gets is way up the ladder, I won’t be surprised. The only thing holding him back, and the only reason he’s not moving anywhere for £100 million, is because he doesn’t create and score goals. He is world class at all other parts of the game, but that extra bit is what stops him getting that move.
“We’ve seen lots of midfielders like that, Mateo Kovacic was another during his time at Chelsea, who are held back by their lack of goal contributions. Some players are also looked upon differently because they’ve moved around a bit. If he had stayed at one club which suited him well, then he’d have played week-in week-out for four or five years, and he’d be even better than he is.”
