Frank Lampard was greeted by plenty of familiar faces on Thursday afternoon after his shock return to Chelsea was confirmed - but one of the youngsters he tipped for greatness during his previous stint at the club was not amongst them.
Billy Gilmour was snapped up by Chelsea as a teenager and was handed his Premier League debut by Lampard, who was a big, big fan of the Scottish international.
And after watching Gilmour - then aged just 18 - run the show for Chelsea in an FA Cup clash against Liverpool, Lampard suggested that Gilmour reminded him of Paul Scholes; and that the youngster was blessed with several of the Manchester United icon's traits.
Speaking back in April 2020 after Roy Keane had showered Gilmour with praise, Lampard told Sky Sports: "Keane was a fantastic midfield player and he probably won’t give credit unless it’s due – and it certainly was due. He’s right, I heard the statements he made about Billy and I think he’s spot on.
"Billy should be happy with that and if he can go and follow the ideas that someone like Roy Keane says when it comes to midfield play he won’t go far wrong."
"Paul Scholes is obviously one of the greatest midfield players I’ve played against in the Premier League," Lampard added. "He would always pick the right pass, he had incredible range. If you did try and jump from midfield and get to him and get close to him he’d just play it around the corner because he knew you were coming. Billy has shown early signs of that kind of ability.
"I’m not comparing him to Scholesy, no way at all, but in terms of those basics that you mentioned, then Billy certainly has them and that’s a great platform to build hopefully a fantastic career."
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Unfortunately for both Lampard and Gilmour, the youngster struggled to build on his breakthrough and he was sold to Brighton on a permanent basis back in the summer.
Intriguingly, the midfield maestro was signed by Graham Potter - who had identified Gilmour as a top transfer target - just months before the Brighton chief was lured to Stamford Bridge as the successor for Thomas Tuchel.
It's probably fair to say neither have flourished in their new surroundings: Potter was dismissed by Chelsea after just six months at the helm earlier this week whilst Gilmour has made just seven Premier League appearances for the Seagulls all season.
Gilmour penned a four-year contract at the Amex Stadium after leaving Chelsea in a bid to try and secure more regular first-team football.
