Chelsea: Buying Declan Rice doesn’t mean discarding Billy Gilmour

Chelsea winning the Champions League when no one expected it to doesn’t mean the west Londoners can rest on their laurels, transfers are necessary for next season to push on domestically. Manager Thomas Tuchel has stressed the team needs a prolific No. 9 to score timely goals. Chelsea has been lacking a true goal scorer ever since Antonio Conte reportedly told Diego Costa he was no longer needed. This issue has plagued the Blues for seasons, masked only by the brilliance of Eden Hazard. It is understandable to see why the club is closely linked to Erling Haaland.

It is perhaps more perplexing as to why the club wish to pursue Achraf Hakimi with an abundance of centrebacks and one of the best wingbacks in Europe in Reece James. There is still one piece to the puzzle missing. The Blues have youth in defence and attack, and while they missed the massive opportunity to get youth in goal by signing Gianluigi Donnarumma, Chelsea’s midfielders are the elder statesmen of the squad.

For argument’s sake, Mason Mount is being grouped in on the attack portion of the squad and that leaves N’Golo Kante, Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic and Billy Gilmour as the core midfield group. Kovacic will be halfway through his 27th year when the next season starts, Kante is 30 and Italian linchpin Jorginho will turn 30 in December. None of these three have shown any glimpses of slowing down, but injuries tend to creep up with age. Elite football is about regeneration and rejuvenation, which is why Chelsea cannot shirk its links to Declan Rice.

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The history with Rice is long. A former Chelsea academy boy and best friend of Mount, Rice was cut from Chelsea’s youth ranks before making the grade at West Ham, where he has since become an England regular. Lampard was very keen on bringing Rice to SW6, and although Tuchel seemed unsure at first, has apparently warmed to the idea of the Englishman returning to his boyhood club.

At first glance, some might say that this is completely unnecessary. The Blues already have a top-class talent in Gilmour, who plays the same position and style, so why spend £50+ million when they already have a player on the books? To dismiss this out of hand, however, is foolish. Rice and Gilmour could be the best midfield partnership since Kante and Nemanja Matic stole the show in Chelsea’s romp to the title in 2016/17.

A Rice transfer cements Chelsea’s midfield for the next 10 years, made even better if Gilmour is alongside him. England has shown in its opening match against Croatia in the Euros that Rice can operate as part of a midfield double pivot. Frequently at West Ham, Rice has been left as the sole cover in front of the defence, but Gareth Southgate’s decision to have Rice hold and Phillips roam would translate perfectly to Chelsea’s current set up. Gilmour is an underrated passer of the ball and given the freedom to motor up and down the pitch like Phillips does for England would be directly in his wheelhouse. The best part about this potential midfield duo is that the roles could be reversed.

Rice has no issue moving forward, is a quality passer himself, and Gilmour—as he has shown numerous times in his young career—is not scared of throwing himself into a tackle. Remember, this is a deal done with an eye on the future. Chelsea does not need to throw Rice and Gilmour in on opening day next campaign; there is no way that N’Golo Kante doesn’t start considering his Ballon d’Or worthy season.

Tuchel loves to have Jorginho play a deeper role to orchestrate passing moves, but Gilmour has shown that, when given the game time, he can reach those heights. For now, the Scottish international needs a loan to a club that will guarantee he plays 30 games a season. His precocious nature belies his 20 years, but with the ability Chelsea has in front of him, a season in the Bundesliga or a mid-table Premier League side could be the perfect launchpad for midfield domination come 2022.

For all of the transfer decisions the Blues have on their mind, this one might be the most important. Yes, the club needs a striker, but if they keep the ball out of their net, they only need one chance. Sure, Chelsea has struggled with capitalizing on even one chance this year, but Rice is a must for the club. The Blues’ decisions to hire and fire at any moment have generated massive success for them, what has held them back is that they generally follow each manager’s wishes in the transfer market. This approach stunts the club’s growth to an extent because a player crucial for one manager is discarded by the next.

If Chelsea wishes to compete every year domestically and in Europe with the Bayern Munichs, Real Madrids and Manchesters of the world, it needs structure and club-guided transfers, not manager-dictated spending sprees.

Rice should be at exactly the same height of importance as Haaland for this squad. Failure to act won’t hurt Chelsea now. However, in a few years when Kante, Jorginho and Kovacic have started their respective declines that come with age, the Blues’ board will thank their lucky stars they had the forethought to secure their midfield spine for the next generation.