‘Make sense’: Scotland star could shine for for Arsenal and Man City but reasons for no £100m fee laid bare

Gilmour moved from Brighton and Hove Albion to Napoli on the final day of the summer window for a fee of £12 million and has impressed in Serie A, helping Gli Azzurri sit top of Italy’s top flight.

The 23-year-old former Rangers and Chelsea man continues to be one of the key players in the Scotland national team and despite only making the move to Naples recently, Nevin - a former Scotland internationalist himself - believes the deep-lying playmaker has all the attributes to represent last season’s top two clubs in the EPL.

“I knew about Billy Gilmour before he joined Chelsea when he was at Rangers,” said Nevin, “but most people first remember his game against Liverpool where he dominated the match.

“I see a lot of him for Scotland and all the teams he’s played for and I believe that if you put him in the centre of midfield for Arsenal or Manchester City, he’d be just fine. He’s a good enough player to play there and it’d make sense.

“He’s got the technical ability to do huge things in football. He holds the ball as well as any other player.”

Looking back on his time at Chelsea, Nevin compared Gilmour - contracted at Napoli until 2029 - to former Blues midfielders Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic, suggesting that their lack of goal contributions prevent them from being considered £100 million players.

“Billy was coming through at Chelsea when Jorginho was in the centre of midfield,” said Nevin. “He’s a player who used to get a lot of stick from Chelsea fans and I used to tell people that he’d get into Manchester City’s midfield.

“People would argue that he didn’t score goals or do other parts of the game, but he was adored by those who understood his style. It was no surprise to me when he went to Arsenal, and I’d feel exactly the same about Billy.

“If the next move he gets is way up the ladder, I won’t be surprised. The only thing holding him back, and the only reason he’s not moving anywhere for £100 million, is because he doesn’t create and score goals. He is world class at all other parts of the game, but that extra bit is what stops him getting that move.

“We’ve seen lots of midfielders like that, Mateo Kovacic was another during his time at Chelsea, who are held back by their lack of goal contributions. Some players are also looked upon differently because they’ve moved around a bit.”

Nevin added in an interview with Betvictor: “If he had stayed at one club which suited him well, then he’d have played week-in week-out for four or five years, and he’d be even better than he is.”