Brighton chief Paul Barber admits Graham Potter exit to Chelsea ‘not ideal’ for Billy Gilmour
BILLY GILMOUR has been backed to take Graham Potter's shock departure in his stride.
However, Brighton chief executive Paul Barber has admitted the situation is "not ideal".
The Scotland international moved to The Amex from Chelsea in a deal worth £9million on deadline day, excited at the prospect of working with Potter.
Just a week later Potter went the other way after being appointed Chelsea manager, replacing Thomas Tuchel following his shock sacking.
Gilmour played just one minute under the now Chelsea boss, coming on as a late substitue in the Seagulls' 5-2 win over Leicester City.
Asked about the situation, Brighton chief Barber said: "It isn't ideal, far from ideal.
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"But my experience of working with professional footballers for the last 25 years is that they are resilient and pragmatic.
"My limited experience of talking to Billy is that he is a very calm and very mature young man.
"He has been around football all his life and I'm sure he will take this in his stride.
"He will be helped by the other players and by Andrew Crofts and Shannon Ruth as need be.
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"The fortunate position we are in is that we are not facing Premier League matches tomorrow, this week or next week. We have time.
"The timing around the transfer window closing was always potentially going to leave one or two players in Billy's situation if this happens.
"Players are resilient and professional and we have a good group and the senior players will bridge any gap that might exist and we will move on from there.