Former Rangers youth Billy Gilmour has opened up on his future at Chelsea, saying that the next step in his development is a loan move.
Gilmour plays for the Chelsea U23s after moving to Stamford Bridge last year. He’s since been promoted through the youth ranks at the club and is becoming a fixture for the Scotland U21s. It’s made all the more impressive by the fact he’s only 17.
Gilmour, who’s touted as one of Europe’s top wonderkids, joined Chelsea from Rangers for £500k last season.
As he looks at his short-term options, could Gilmour yet return back to the club that he loves next season?
Rangers move would be bold but league very physical
Billy Gilmour himself has reiterated his desire to go out on loan. Chelsea are famed for a specialist development system which utilises the short term moves. The club have 29 players out on loan right now.
As quoted in The Sun, Gilmour said: “You see all the Chelsea boys going out on loan and how much it’s benefiting them.
“They’re all going out and doing their thing, whether it’s scoring goals or keeping clean sheets, and it is working for them.
Is Rangers a feasible option? I don’t see why not. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some sort of loan option there either, or at least some inteest. But I don’t think that Ibrox will be his first port of call.
The thing that stood in the way of any long-term contract at Rangers for Gilmour were fears about the physicality of the league. He’s still a young boy and has to develop. At 17, I don’t think Chelsea will fancy sending him to a league full of hatchet men.
I’d imagine he’d take the route through the Eredivisie that so many young Chelsea players take. It’s a technical environment and not quite as brutish.
Maybe not next season, but I reckon we’ll see him at Ibrox for at least one season in the coming years.
If he’s half the player he’d hyped to be, it could be a pretty special season too!
Not that the hype affects the young midfielder. Gilmour wants to be the world’s best.
