Named breakthrough player of the Maurice Revello Tournment 2018, the 17-year-old midfielder continues his rise to the top. And the Chelsea starlet doesn’t lack ambition for his future.
« We shouldn’t be surprised at him. He wouldn’t be here if we weren’t fully confident in his ability”. While the observers were full of praise for Billy Gilmour’s display during the Scotland’s 1-0 win over France in the Maurice Revello Tournament 2018 group stage, his coach Scot Gemmil stayed calm. Convinced that the 16-year-old wonderkid was going to impress again in the next games. He was right as the Chelsea starlet has been named breakthrough player of the competition few weeks later.
Since that, Gilmour turned 17 and continued his success story. This season, Gilmour established himself a regular for the Chelsea reserve team. Meanwhile, he is also taking part in some first-team trainings. The opportunity for him to develop alongside some world-class players.
“You’re out on the training pitch and you start to see Hazard coming out, Fabregas and then Giroud and you’re thinking, ‘Jeez oh, you play with them on FIFA ! Sometimes you could break under that pressure. But I was just loving it. Getting on the ball and doing your stuff in the training sessions, then you’re passing to Hazard, hitting a shot into Courtois, that’s dreams!”, he told to BBC Scotland.
If his future at Chelsea looks promising, the same applies to his future with his national team. Despite being only 17, he cemented his place in the Scotland U21 squad. He has notably delivered an assist this month during the European Championship 2019 qualifier against Andorra (3-0).
Inevitably, his confidence has been boosted over the last months. "That's always been my ambition, to be the best player. In the world, yeah. I think every kid's dream should be that. If someone is better than me, I want to be better than them. I've always had a winning mentality and I hate losing, so when I see someone doing better, I need to match them," he said to BBC.
Can he keep the momentum going ?