Scotland boss Steve Clarke has heaped praise on Billy Gilmour following the Tartan Army's draw with Poland, and declared his best work comes when he has the ball.
The 20-year-old midfielder first earned plaudits under Frank Lampard at Chelsea with fine performances against Liverpool in the FA Cup and Everton in the Premier League in March 2020. The Scottish international showed himself to have an ability to control the tempo of a match with an impressive selection of passing, and immediate trust from his teammates.
A knee injury towards the end of that season slowed his progress but he impressed enough that Thomas Tuchel did not allow him to leave the Blues on loan in January 2021, though minutes were difficult to come by with competition from N'Golo Kante, Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic. Nevertheless he impressed for Scotland during EURO 2020, and garnered a great deal of attention for his man of the match performance against England.
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Glenn Hoddle declared him the instant replacement for Jorginho in Tuchel's midfielder. The former Blues boss said: "He’s instantly the replacement for Jorginho at Chelsea, they won’t have to look in the market for someone because he is already there, learning and developing into a great player."
Instead, a loan to Norwich City was chosen which has produced mixed results. After finding himself in the starting XI upon arrival, he soon dropped out of Daniel Farke's first choice team. He has returned to action under the tutelage of Dean Smith but it remains up for debate whether the Canaries are set up to get the most out of Gilmour, though the Rangers product is still learning valuable lessons.
However, the East Anglia side rarely dominate possession, only seeing more than half of the ball once in 2022. While Gilmour has on occasion looked to operate at a different speed to his teammates. Any return to Chelsea would see a different style of play, and the yongster's performances for Scotland may be more illustrative of how he is best used.
Steve Clarke said of the young Chelsea star: “Billy and Callum (McGregor) are two really good footballers on the ball. We always try to play anyway, that’s what we have always tried to do. But when you have two players like that in midfield you have to give them the ball otherwise there’s no point in playing them."
