Billy Gilmour could provide Everton something of an upgrade when it comes to midfielder Andre Gomes if reports of a move to Goodison Park are true.
According to a claim from journalist Dean Jones, who was speaking in an interview with GiveMeSport, Toffees boss Frank Lampard will be keeping an eye on the young Scot, as well as a few other players this summer, with views to signing them.
He said: “Frank Lampard will keep a close eye on Gilmour, Broja and Gallagher situations at Chelsea over the summer. I’ll be amazed if at least one of them doesn’t join Everton by next season.”
This shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, as when he was manager at Derby County, he brought in a couple of faces familiar to his former club in the form of Ashley Cole, Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori. So the fact he’s going back to Chelsea to bring in someone like Gilmour, who he gave some minutes to himself at Stamford Bridge, is par for the course.
Kurt Zouma was also very excited about the youngster back in 2020 as he called him ‘unbelievable’ after his display against Liverpool, so you can see just how highly he’s been rated at times in his short career.
As we assess both players’ credentials below, it should come as a bit of a warning to current Everton midfielder Gomes, as the 28-year-old might find himself out of a job.
Billy Gilmour
The 20-year-old is currently on loan at Norwich City, where he’s managed to put in some solid effort whilst helping them fight off relegation.
Going forward, he’s currently averaging 1.3 key passes per game and is maintaining a pass completion rate of 83.4% within his 52.6 passes per game in the Premier League. Meanwhile, in defence, he’s averaging 2 tackles, 0.8 interceptions and 1.7 clearances, showing that he’s willing to mix it at both ends of the pitch (via WhoScored).
Andre Gomes
Gomes, meanwhile, isn’t quite putting up the same numbers as the Scottish international.
He’s so far only playing 0.4 key passes per game and completing just 77% of his passes, which come at a rate of 22 per game in the Premier League. And defensively, he’s only putting in 1.4 tackles, making 0.1 interceptions and 0.3 clearances (via WhoScored), so Gilmour is surpassing him – sometimes far surpassing him – in a number of areas in midfield.
TIF verdict…
Would you like to see Everton sell Gomes?
Yes!
No!
When you consider how long Lampard has had in charge of both players – Gilmour for a season and a half before his departure from Chelsea, and Gomes only a couple of weeks – it’s understandable why Lampard might want to lean on one player rather than the other given his levels of familiarity with either man.
So whilst Gomes might have a contract at the club until the summer of 2024, if Lampard goes ahead and brings Gilmour in, he may well find himself looking to join another club before too long.
In other news: Forgotten, valued at around £7m: Everton need to sell academy product after big update – opinion