Chelsea knocked out Liverpool from the FA Cup earlier this week and young Billy Gilmour was the star of the show for the Stamford Bridge outfit.
Billy Gilmour has been waiting on the wings all throughout this season and so far the midfielder has featured in only two Premier League games for the Blues.
But on Tuesday though, the Scottish U21 international played in the Jorginho role and came out of the match with flying colours and speaking after the match, Chelsea legend Tony Cascarino has compared the former Rangers man to Manchester United legend Roy Keane.
“He was thrown in the deep end and absolutely swam, he didn’t have an issue at all,” the ex-Chelsea striker told talkSPORT via Goal.
“In the first 15 minutes, he just set the standard for the game, just getting on it, having that inner belief and dictating the pace of the midfield.
Positioning 🏃♂️
Vision 🎯
Interceptions 👊
Tackles 💪Billy Gilmour displayed it all last night…🤩 pic.twitter.com/bNqm0Mkalf
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) March 4, 2020
“Without wanting to go over the top, because I’m as guilty as everybody of doing this and getting excited about what you see, but I remember Keane being very similar at this age.
“Roy Keane demanded the ball, he was a fearless footballer.
“When I first saw him at Nottingham Forest and then when he got in the Ireland squad, Roy just enjoyed having the ball, he demanded it, ‘give me it’.
“Billy Gilmour did that. Roy was tenacious and Billy Gilmour showed that as well last night.
“Keane was a little bit older when he first came over from Ireland, but if I’m comparing that to what I’m seeing from an 18-year-old, Roy had that tenacity in his game where he just wanted the ball and never shirked anything.
“That’s what Gilmour did last night.”
Billy Gilmour still has a long way to go before he even thinks of following in the footsteps of Roy Keane but his performance against Liverpool on Tuesday showed glimpses of the huge pool of talent which he possesses. And now, it’s all up to Frank Lampard to use him sensibly and nurture him into a world-class talent.
