PREMIER LEAGUE LEADERS Chelsea have beaten off the likes of Barcelona and Manchester United to sign 15-year-old playmaker Billy Gilmour from Rangers, the Glasgow giants said on Tuesday.

Rangers wanted the Scotland U17 international to stay at Ibrox but could not compete with Gilmour’s desire to move south and he will join Chelsea’s academy in the summer for a reported fee of £500,000 (595,000 euros).

Although yet to make a first-team appearance for Rangers, Gilmour is a highly regarded prospect who attracted interest from leading clubs in Britain and Europe, with Arsenal, United, Barcelona and Bayern Munich all said to have been scouting the teenager.

The club’s preference would have been for Billy to stay at Rangers but when he made clear his desire to move to the Premier League it was important that we maximised the commercial value for him. We believe we have done this,” the Scottish Premiership side said.

“That he was sought after by many Premiership clubs, and indeed a number of the largest clubs in Europe, further demonstrates the quality of player now being produced by the academy.”

(C) AFP 2017

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