Napoli signed Billy Gilmour from Brighton in the summer transfer window.
The Scotsman made a slow start to life in Italy but in the past few weeks, his prominence under Antonio Conte has grown.
He has made 18 appearances in Serie A and Gilmour has started all of Napoli’s last four league games. He also impressed against AC Milan at the weekend, giving a good account of himself against Inter Milan in early March.
Some background has now emerged about his exit from Brighton. Journalist Francesco Modugno has revealed that Napoli had initially sealed a deal for Juventus’ Arthur but Conte made sure that they signed Gilmour instead
Modugno said, as relayed by CalcioNapoli24: “At the moment Gilmour is a player who is difficult to remove from the starting eleven. After all, Conte strongly wanted the Scotsman. This summer, Napoli had taken Arthur from Juventus. Conte, however, has always indicated Gilmour as his choice.”
Speaking of Conte’s conversations with Napoli about bringing Gilmour from Brighton, Modugno said:
“‘You promised me Gilmour, you can’t give me Arthur’ was the speech made by the coach, a great admirer of the player. The day after, Napoli dropped the Brazilian and took Gilmour. The facts proved him right.”
The Italian is certainly known to get what he wants from clubs, especially when it comes to transfers.
So far, the decision to sign Gilmour is paying off – even if the midfielder is yet to prove himself over a longer term in the season.
Conte knows the Scotland international well from his younger days at Chelsea. It shows that the ex-Tottenham manager is definitely very good at spotting talents and knowing which player suits his playing style.
Gilmour certainly fits his approach and that is starting to show in Naples.
