Billy Gilmour left Glasgow Rangers to continue his development with Chelsea in 2017.
The cynics and naysayers were lining up to take a swipe at Billy ‘the new Islam Feruz’ Gilmour when he decided to leave Rangers for Chelsea in May 2017.
The then-15-year-old emerged as one of the most in-demand young players in European football last year and it became increasingly apparent that he saw his future away from Ibrox.
The Scottish Sun report that Gilmour told Rangers that he wanted to seize his chance at Chelsea, and a month later he was gone, joining the London giants for £500,000.
In the year and a half since, however, Gilmour has set about silencing those who tipped him to drift into obscurity after getting his big break too soon.
He starred as Chelsea won last season’s U18 Youth Cup, shone for Scotland at the Toulon Tournament and, in the early weeks of this season, has made the step up to the Blues’ U23 squad at the age of just 17.
Scoring the opening goal in a 3-0 win against Blackburn, Gilmour certainly made a good first impression for the much-vaunted U23 side. And it is fair to say this teenage play-maker is not short on either talent or ambition.
“That’s always been my ambition, to be the best player. In the world, yeah,” Gilmour told the BBC. “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.”
It is that single-mindedness, that sheer will to be the best he can be, that gives Gilmour the best possible chance of making the grade at Chelsea where so many before him have fallen short.
And, needless to say, Rangers could be left wondering what might have been.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
