The irony of Gilmour replacing Caicedo in the Brighton midfield
Isn’t ironic, don’t you think? A little too ironic? Yeah, I really do think. If Alanis Morissette were to rewrite her 1996 smash hit, then she would surely have to include Billy Gilmour taking over from Moises Caicedo in the Brighton midfield within the lyrics of the new version.
In the summer of 2022, Chelsea sold Gilmour to the Albion for a bargain £9 million. Fast forward 12 months and with a glaring holding midfielder gap in their squad, the Blues smashed the British transfer record to purchase Moises Caicedo for £115 million from Brighton.
Chelsea have now spent a billion pounds since Todd Boehly took over. Their only Premier League win so far this season came against relegation favourites Luton Town.
The Blues have lost away at West Ham and more damningly, were beaten on their own patch by Nottingham Forest before the international break.
Although early days in his Chelsea career, Caicedo is yet to pull up any trees. Not even the most expensive player in English football history seems immune to the sapping of ability anyone who moves to Stamford Bridge suffers from.
Brighton faced a challenge when trying to replace Caicedo. Carlos Baleba has been identified as the long-term successor, the Albion forking out what for them is a considerable fee of £25 million to sign the 19-year-old from Lille.
Baleba only arrived a few days before the transfer window shut. Brighton had already played three matches by that point.
De Zerbi decided not to throw his new man in at the deep end with a debut against Newcastle United, instead preferring to give Baleba a settling in period over the international break.
That has meant Caicedo’s place in the side going to Gilmour. The player Chelsea effectively gift wrapped and sent to Brighton has seamlessly taken over from the man the Blues have lavished £115 million on. Incredible business once again from the genius that is Todd Boehly.
Having said that, you would have gone long odds on Gilmour being the successor to Caicedo even six months ago. Before Wolves were hammered 6-0 at the Amex on April 29th, Gilmour had started only two Premier League matches since his move to the Amex.
With Caicedo, Alexis Mac Allister, Pascal Gross and in-form Adam Lallana ahead of him in the pecking order, there was no shame in that.
More concerning was De Zerbi’s reluctance to give Gilmour opportunities in the FA Cup. Out of five matches on the Albion’s run to the semi finals, Gilmour played just 23 minutes as a substitute in the fourth round win over Liverpool at the Amex.
As a consequence of his lack of game time, Gilmour was written off in some places. There were rumours of a January move with old club Rangers wanting to take him back to Ibrox.
The reason behind Gilmour struggling was revealed in May when a woman pleaded guilty to stalking the Scottish international.
Gilmour met Orla Sloan briefly at a party and exchanged a few messages with her. When Gilmour then said he did not wish to remain in contact, she sent him threatening messages, contacted his friends and family and even went so far as to claim she was pregnant.
In a victim statement read at Sloan’s trial, Gilmour said: “I have not been able to sleep and have had to take sleeping tablets.”
“It’s had a negative effect on my performance and professional life. Being in a new town where I don’t have my friends or family, it’s really upsetting.”
“I don’t know who I can trust any more. Some of the information would only have been known by people close to me.”
Sloan being put on trial coincided with Gilmour breaking into the Brighton first team. Handed an opportunity with Mac Allister and Caciedo rested for the visit of Wolves, he gave a virtuoso display to put his career firmly on track.
De Zerbi’s rotation in the final month of the 2022-23 season saw Gilmour start four more matches in addition to his starring role against the Old Gold.
The only points the Albion dropped in the games Gilmour played came against treble winners Manchester City, but even that 1-1 draw at the Amex felt like a win against opponents who had won their previous 14 matches in a row.
De Zerbi has spoken often about the qualities of Gilmour coming into the 2023-24 campaign, even describing him as a leader.
The inference there is that Gilmour could one day captain Brighton; presuming Chelsea do not end up paying £175 million to take him back to Stamford Bridge as Caicedo’s replacement.
“Gilmour is a very smart player. He has an incredible attitude, incredible behaviour,” said De Zerbi after the Albion won 4-1 at Wolves in their second game of the new season.
“He plays like an older player but he’s a young player. He’s improving a lot and he’s a completely different player to when I came to Brighton.”
With his stalker ordeal over and De Zerbi a big fan, Gilmour has a massive role to play with Brighton in the coming years.
When Chelsea finally got their deal for Caicedo over the line, their fans delighted in taunting Albion supporters.
You’re the next Southampton, they said. We keep signing your best players because we have won two Champions League, they said. You cannot replace Caicedo and you are going down, they said.
Turns out Brighton could replace Caicedo… with a player bought on the cheap from Chelsea. A pleasure doing business with you Mr Boehly, as always.
