Pat Nevin wouldn’t be massively shocked if Billy Gilmour decided to seek more opportunities away from Chelsea soon, speaking to football.london.
Gilmour’s game time with the Blues first-team has been extremely limited this season.
Four of his five starts have arrived in the FA Cup, the other coming in a Champions League tie with Krasnodar.
The 19-year-old is well regarded within the walls of Cobham and isn’t without his admirers outside them as well.
But a player of his talent deserves to be featuring regularly, which is something is hasn’t yet been afforded at Chelsea.
One of his biggest fans is former Blues winger Nevin, who believed his fellow Scotsman had a tough decision to make going into next season.
He said: “If he went out on loan in the summer, I wouldn’t be surprised or shocked and I wouldn’t say that was the wrong thing to do.
“But I also don’t think it would be daft for him to stay around because he is still really young. So, it’s not black or white, right or wrong.
“If you look across all of football at the very, very top level, how many players are regularly getting regular starts at the age of 19 years old?
“There will be very few. So, it’s not strange the position Billy is in, it’s not a nightmare scenario.
“Of course, there will be some frustration because you drop Billy into other teams and he’d be playing every week.
“But would he be learning as much? Would he be learning what Thomas Tuchel wants? Perhaps not.”
Gilmour going on loan wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world or the strangest.
According to the Daily Mail, he was close to joining Southampton on deadline day for the remainder of 2020/21, but the move didn’t materialise.
He can take confidence in how well the other young, Chelsea loanees are fairing currently.
Marc Guehi is excelling in the Championship with Swansea City.
Conor Gallagher has impressed with relegation strugglers West Bromwich Albion.
Fikayo Tomori could be signed permanently by AC Milan following his performances in Serie A.
Big months lie ahead for Gilmour, who will also be hoping to see a few more minutes with Chelsea before the European Championships this summer.
The Chelsea Chronicle View
Gilmour really is stuck between a rock and hard place where his future is concerned.
But in my opinion, I think he should go out on loan. There will be no shortage of interested suitors who would snap him up, most likely at Premier League level.
It would only be beneficial for him to be playing regularly, so I think it would be a smart call to seek a transfer.
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