Chelsea youngster Billy Gilmour may have to leave the club on loan in January in order to continue his development.
The 19-year-old Scottish midfielder burst onto the scene during the Blues’ FA Cup victory over Liverpool last season, putting in a man of the match display at Stamford Bridge which Frank Lampard hailed as “incredible“.
Gilmour built on that debut performance in the coming weeks with starring roles for Lampard’s side in six Premier League matches, most notably a further man of the match outing against Everton in early March.
Capped 12 times by Scotland under-21s, his impressive introduction to the Chelsea senior side lead to a growing clamour to get the teenager in the full Scottish side prior to his injury – something he will be keen to achieve in the build-up to the rescheduled Euro 2020, if the Tartan Army qualify for the finals.
However, the midfielder is yet to feature this season because of a serious knee injury sustained towards the end of his breakthrough campaign; and with Lampard’s squad now boasting a host of new faces, Gilmour – who is close to a return – may need to leave temporarily to find first-team action.
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In truth, the summer arrivals may have pushed Gilmour down the pecking order regardless of the young Scotsman’s injury.
A forward-thinking midfielder, Gilmour will struggle to oust Kai Havertz or Mason Mount based on current form. That is something Ross Barkley, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and fellow youngster Conor Gallagher realised before promptly leaving the club on loan deals for the duration of the season.
There was plenty of hype around Gilmour after such an impressive introduction to his career, and in many ways that hasn’t gone away as he returns from injury.
Although now it seems far from being a certainty to return to first team duties, he may well be best served heading out on loan in January in order to get regular match action. Certainly in terms of league outings, he needs to carry on progressing.
Based on what we saw last season, there is certainly a future at the Bridge for Gilmour, so the club should pick any prospective loan destination wisely.
