Billy Gilmour eyeing Thomas Tuchel talks after Chelsea pre-season exit
By Tom Gott
Billy Gilmour will look to speak with Thomas Tuchel after Chelsea return to England to seek some answers about his future.
The Scottish midfielder returned from his loan spell with Norwich this summer and initially jetted off to the United States with Tuchel's first team, only to be dismissed from the group after the first game alongside fellow youngsters Armando Broja, Harvey Vale and Tino Anjorin.
With two years remaining on his contract, 21-year-old Gilmour is at a crucial point in his career and reports elsewhere have suggested he could look to leave Chelsea permanently this summer, although others have claimed a loan move is the likeliest outcome.
"I’m back at Chelsea working hard in pre-season and then see what happens at the end," Gilmour said (via The Telegraph). "I’ve not had any conversation [with the manager] yet. I just need to wait and see when he speaks to me.”
Should Gilmour leave on loan, he will be hoping to find a more suitable club than Norwich, where he often struggled and was regularly berated by the fans - leaving his family unable to watch him play.
“It was a difficult season,” said Gilmour. “I went there with the idea of trying to play my best and some games it worked and some games it didn’t, so I took some experience from that and it will help me going forward.
“It’s the fans’ opinion. They come to watch games and pay for their ticket and they shout, but that has happened and it wasn’t nice to hear. I gave it my all and tried to work hard every game.
“Of course, it’s hard [not to let it get to you]. It was also hard for my family. When you’ve got family in the stands and they’re shouting that it’s never nice, but I would just get my head down. I know what I’m good at, I’ll work hard on the field and try to get back.”
“Of course it’s not nice. They stopped coming to the games, so it wasn’t nice. They weren't coming down for games at the weekend, just staying in the house.
“I just got my head down and worked. We had a good team, good players in the changing-room who all stuck by each other. It was tough, coming towards the end of the season, we all knew that. So I just had to get my head down, work hard in training and try to perform at the weekend.”