I will always be so grateful to Rangers but the Chelsea blueprint made it a no-brainer
SAYS BILLY GILMOUR
Scotland starlet Billy Gilmour has no regrets at choosing youth football at chelsea over first-team involvement at Rangers, admitting he doesn’t yet have the physical stature to compete with the likes of celtic captain Scott Brown.
the 16-year-old former Ibrox midfielder has been tipped to be the best player of his generation after moving to london last summer in a £500,000 move when chelsea beat off competition from Manchester United, Manchester city and Bayern Munich to land him when he was just 15.
a year on and Gilmour has already clinched four trophies with chelsea’s youngsters and been fast tracked into the Scotland Under-21 squad at the toulon tournament this week, where he could line up against hosts France tonight. the Scotland coaching team have been raving about his progress, too.
and, in his first major interview, Gilmour revealed the agonising he went through when he quit Rangers to move to london.
He was promoted into training with the Rangers first team and the youngster would almost certainly have made the starting XI, like his pal Harry cochrane at Hearts.
Gilmour said: ‘It’s been an incredible year for me. I missed the first four games of the season waiting on paperwork to go through and I was getting frustrated. But I eventually made my debut against arsenal and scored in a 2-0 win. From there, everything has gone brilliantly. We’ve won four trophies in my first season, which has been amazing.
‘at Rangers, I was training with the first team quite a lot. I was only 15 so I couldn’t actually get on the pitch. If I was maybe a bit older when I had to make the decision, it might have been different.
‘Harry is in Hearts’ first team now and doing really well. If it was later, maybe it would have been a good decision to stay because I would have been bigger, more developed.
‘But I’m not fully developed yet. If I’d matched myself up against Scott Brown, for instance, he’d bully me for a full game. He’s the best midfielder in Scotland by far so if I had to go up against him, I’d have no chance.
‘Maybe technically, I’d be okay. But in terms of running about and pushing him off the ball — no chance. So that’s the way I looked at it. Would I have been ready at that stage? the answer would have been no.’
and Gilmour, who has already trained with the first team at Stamford Bridge, recalled the moment when he swapped Ibrox for the bright lights of london.
He explained: ‘I was with the Rangers Under-20s and I played well in a game against Falkirk and the spotlight was on me a bit. then I played well against northern Ireland for Scotland and there was a lot of talk about me in the papers.
‘It was a good tournament for me and after it my agent took a lot of calls. I just wanted to play football. at that age, I never thought that side of things would come until later.
‘But my ambition has always been to go to the Premier league. that’s what I’ve always wanted, so I thought I better give it a shot. and so far it’s been amazing.
‘I spent a lot of time on the decision. It was between Rangers and chelsea. Most of my family are Rangers fans and I love the club.
‘I’ll always be thankful for everything they did for me. But when chelsea showed me what my development plan was going to be, I couldn’t turn it down.
‘Everything about the club was incredible and it’s where I wanted to be. If you know what you want, it’s an easy decision. If boys are hesitant — who say they want it but don’t really — it can be difficult.
‘But my aim has always been to play at the best level. I’ve always wanted to play against older players, get the best coaching, stay behind and do more.
‘So when I heard chelsea came in it was a no-brainer. I wanted to be with the best team.
‘they win the league for fun, have won the Fa Youth cup five years in a row, play in the champions league. that’s what I wanted to be part of. I want to be winning everything.
‘Moving away from my family wasn’t a big deal. I’ve always loved being away. Even when I was in Scotland, I’d be staying at digs with Rangers. So it doesn’t bother me and chelsea are good at allowing me time to come home.’
and Gilmour is determined to find a way into the chelsea first team eventually.
He said: ‘From next season I’m trying to get into the Under-23s squad and champions Youth league squad. then, if I am physically developed enough, I would try to go on loan or try and push myself into the first team.
‘People who say I will never get a chance have never experienced it, so it’s hard for them to know. I know it looks like everyone gets loaned out, but at the end of the day you look at the likes of Ruben loftus-cheek, who has made the England World cup squad.
‘I know I have to develop physically. I want my legs to be stronger. at chelsea I’ve been doing about 13K around the pitch.
‘Sometimes when you look at the other team you think: “oh my God”, but when you’re on the ball it’s fine. It’s quick which I like.
‘I love one-touch and two-touch football and I love winning headers against big, physical boys because they get annoyed at me — it’s the best feeling ever!
‘It would be amazing to play for Scotland. I love coming away with them, even just to train. Just putting the jersey on is amazing.’