Why Chelsea should keep hold of Billy Gilmour

According to Evening Standard, new Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has doubts over Billy Gilmour and his physicality to play in the Premier League. The Blues boss talked about Gilmour and how he is strategic, fast and has good positioning. While he is reluctant to let him leave, he did express his doubts about Gilmour’s physical level.

Gilmour is one of the better players to come from the academy

The 19-year-old initially made his mark for the Blues at the U-18 level, scoring 7 goals and registering 2 assists in 17 appearances in the U-18 PL during the 2017-18 campaign. Gilmour also featured in the UEFA Youth League in his first season at Chelsea before being promoted to the U-23 side for the 2018-19 campaign.

Gilmour bagged 5 goals and 4 assists in 19 appearances in the Premier League 2 Division 1 during the 2018-19 season, prompting Frank Lampard to integrate the Scottish starlet in his first-team plans.

He was handed his Premier League debut against Sheffield United in August last year and has gone on to make 17 appearances across all competitions. Gilmour is a part of Scotland’s U-21 side making 13 appearances to date.

Gilmour has a bright future if Chelsea can keep him

Even two or three years ago, it was a rare sight to see Chelsea’s academy players cracking their way into the first-team. It all changed as they were faced with a transfer ban and Frank Lampard introduced a number of youngsters from the academy. One of them was Billy Gilmour.

The Scot instantly endeared himself to the fans with his showings last season, especially in an FA Cup game against Liverpool. Despite his relatively young age and inexperience, he was able to boss a Liverpool midfield that included the likes of Fabinho.

His progress, though, was briefly halted due to a long-term knee injury. However, the youngster is now back to full fitness and trying to work his way into new manager Thomas Tuchel’s plans.

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Gilmour will not have it any easy as the side is stocked with star names who are much more experienced. The likes of Kante, Jorginho, Kovacic, Mount and Havertz are all very much ahead of him in the pipeline.

Nonetheless, the club need to keep hold of Gilmour. He is one of the most talented players to come out of the academy in recent years. It looks like he can be a mainstay of the team in the years to come.