Brighton & Hove Albion have reportedly made the breakthrough in their efforts to sign Chelsea midfielder Billy Gilmour.
Despite having failed to sign a like-for-like replacement for Yves Bissouma, the Seagulls have enjoyed a strong start to the new Premier League campaign.
Graham Potter's side have collected 10 points from a possible 15, their only defeat coming at the hands of Fulham earlier this week.
However, with a transfer kitty which has also been boosted by the sale of Marc Cucurella for £62m, Brighton have always been looking to sign a new central midfielder before the end of the summer transfer window.
According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Brighton will secure a deal for Gilmour before the close of play on Thursday night.
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Romano says that Chelsea have agreed to part ways with Gilmour on a permanent basis, with Sky Sports News saying that Brighton will pay a fee of £10m.
The 21-year-old will depart Stamford Bridge having made a total of 14 starts and eight substitute appearances in all competitions.
Gilmour was handed his Blues debut by Frank Lampard with the soon-to-be Scotland international starring in an FA Cup tie against Liverpool before the coronavirus pandemic.
However, the enforced break and a knee injury derailed Gilmour's momentum, and he has never been regarded as a first-team option by Thomas Tuchel.
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Although Gilmour further enhanced his reputation with a man-of-the-match performance for Scotland against England at Euro 2020, his subsequent loan spell at Norwich City failed to pay off.
Despite making 24 outings for the Canaries in the Premier League, Gilmour returned to Stamford Bridge having under-delivered and did not come into Tuchel's thinking for a recall to his squad for 2022-23.
The former Rangers youngster did feature among the replacements against Southampton on Tuesday evening, but that was only due to the suspension of Conor Gallagher and injury to N'Golo Kante.
With Chelsea having only paid a small fee for Gilmour in 2017, the income generated from his sale will represent a boost in terms of FFP after a summer where the West Londoners have broken a club-record for financial outlay.
Darren Plant
