The 15-year-old has been linked with Liverpool, Chelsea and Barcelona but Mark Warburton is determined to give him a chance at Rangers.
If Rangers boss Mark Warburton wants to convince 15-year-old prodigy Billy Gilmour that the grass is at its greenest on the Ibrox turf, handing him an opportunity to train with the first team squad is a good place to start.
The Scottish Sun reported last month that every European giant worth its salt, from Chelsea to Manchester City, Bayern Munich to Barcelona, were keeping a keen eye on a teenager who is facing up to the prospect of mulling over a potentially career-defining decision before most his age are getting to grips with trigonometry.
Warburton, a respected moulder of youthful talent, has made little secret his desire to prevent Gilmour exiting Rangers before his first-team debut, bringing one name in particular to memory; Islam Feruz, the prodigious Celtic teenager who has lived to regret upping sticks for Chelsea at the age of 16.
Seven years and five loan spells later, he is still yet to make his first-team debut in Chelsea colours.
“Our job is to show [Gilmour] the pathway there is to get to the first team,” Warburton told the Daily Record.
“You look at the competition at English Premier League clubs and how hard it is for young players to get into their first teams. It is incredibly difficult.”
Consequently, the 54-year-old has wasted no time giving the teenager a tantalising taste of first-team action, calling him up to train with the senior squad. It’s an opportunity that Gilmour himself seemingly appreciates.
Whether this convinces him that Rangers is the perfect environment to maintain his rapid development, however, remains to be seen. But Warburton is clearly determined to hand his young stars the chance to impress. There’s no guarantee Gilmour will be granted that level of patience or belief elsewhere.
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