PROVING GROUND
Nevin sure Billy will be well tested at Chelsea
MAKING the first team at Stamford Bridge is a long shot for any kid joining one of the world’s elite academy systems. But just being part of Chelsea’s production line will undoubtedly increase Billy Gilmour’s chances of having a stellar professional career.
That’s the view of a former Chelsea star who can rhyme off name after name in support of his argument that the Blues do all the right things. And do right by the youngsters in their charge.
News of Gilmour’s imminent move to the English Premier League leaders prompted the usual knee-jerk reactions about another burgeoning talent lured south in search of riches when he should really stay to develop his football — and get an early taste of the senior game — in the Scottish Premiership.
Beware ending up like Islam Feruz. That’s the inevitable response.
Yet, former Scotland and Chelsea winger Pat Nevin, who still does work for the official club TV channel, cautions against falling into lazy assumptions about the motivation of both player and club.
‘There is a lot of dislike for the Chelsea academy system,’ Nevin told Sportsmail.
‘They’ve won all the youth prizes in England for however many seasons in a row, they’ve won the UEFA Youth League, so people think they’re just buying success and then discarding these young players.
‘If they were hoarding up players and these lads weren’t developing, they were just winning trophies for youth coaches, that would be a disgrace. An absolute disgrace.
‘But there are so many coming through. There are dozens of these kids playing in the Premier League, the Championship and other major competitions.
‘So it’s obviously a good place to develop as a footballer. As long as you don’t become fixated on the first team and judge your time there entirely on whether you get picked for a team full of world-class players.
‘You’ve got Izzy Brown out at Huddersfield, doing really well. Tammy Abraham is having a spectacular time down at Bristol City. Andreas Christensen is playing for Borussia Moenchengladbach — and he has every chance.
‘Nathan Ake has been brilliant at Bournemouth. But is he good enough to take a place from Gary Cahill, the England captain, or David Luiz, the Brazil captain? Ruben Loftus-Cheek has been impressing everybody — but he might end up elsewhere.
‘The issue for all of these players is that you can be good enough to play in a top league, good enough for the Champions League even… but still not good enough for the Chelsea first team. But what an education you’ve been given.
‘When I arrived from Clyde, I swanned into the first team within a couple of months. Those days are long gone! It’s now really, really tough, even for the very best. But the coaching standards are spectacular. And the game is full of excellent players who have come through that system.
‘That’s because, at Chelsea, they go on loan at 16, 17 and 18 years of age — and that’s the right way to do it. They won’t keep you hanging around until you are 20 or 21. That’s pointless for them, pointless for the kids. They send them out quickly.
‘If you’ve been kept on by a club until you’re 21, and you’re still not in the first team, they’re not far off from having trashed your career. That’s not acceptable. But Chelsea don’t do that.’
The comparison with Feruz is inevitable and, given that young man’s many and varied loan experiences, far from flattering.
Nevin insisted: ‘I know people cite Islam as an example up here. But they don’t talk about it like that at Chelsea.
‘I saw Islam when he went down there and, as good as he was, when I saw what he was up against, he didn’t stick out as better than the rest. And there was always the concern about whether his head was in the right place. Attitude counts for a lot.
‘The cons for Billy are that it’s going to be unbelievably hard to get into the first team, however good you are. You have to be a world-class player — and there are not that many of them around.
‘But there are so many positives. It’s a tough system just to get into. The standard is incredible. And, if you want what’s best for Scottish football, you want individual young players to develop in the best environment.’
Even if this is the right move for a 15-year-old, who won’t be allowed to sign until his birthday in June, it’s only natural that Rangers fans should be disappointed to see such a talent — one who has trained with the Ibrox first team this season — moving on.
Yet Nevin offers some consolation to those supporters, insisting: ‘I wouldn’t rule out seeing Billy playing for the Rangers first team at age 17. And I would love to see that happen.
‘Two or three years from now, Chelsea will tell him he’s going out on loan somewhere — and ask him where he thinks would be best. I would not be surprised if he just said: “Rangers”.’