Billy Gilmour is one of the rising stars in the Chelsea side right now but over the past few days, there had been whispers that Lampard could send him out on loan for the remainder of the season.
The Blues boss has already sent out Fikayo Tomori on to loan to AC Milan, despite him having a strong 2019-20 season. And many experts thought Billy Gilmour could be walking on the same path.
But after his strong performance vs Luton Town in the FA Cup, manager Frank Lampard has more or less made it clear that the 19-year-old is not heading out on loan this month.
He said, as per the Standard: “Playing like he did today it’s very difficult (to leave him out) because he was outstanding.
“His comfort on the ball, the way he moves it, his discipline, personality on the team. When he plays like he did today he makes it very difficult for me not to give him a run.
“He trains that way and with his youth and the injury he’s had and the difficult time we’ve had in the last month or so I think it’s been about me trying to find the right time to get Billy in there and today felt the right time and he was brilliant.
“Let’s see going forward. In the short term for me, looking at him today, he won’t be going on loan. But let’s keep that open until the end of the month.
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“But Billy is a Chelsea player and the levels he showed today, shows that he’s right to be a Chelsea player in the middle of the park.”
The fact that Lampard has refused to send Billy Gilmour out on loan for the rest of the campaign clearly underlines the fact that the youngster is set to get a lot of game time in the coming months.
Both Jorginho and Kante have been average this season and at the same time, young Billy Gilmour has impressed every time he’s walked onto the pitch.
So with the Blues still playing in the Champions League and also fighting for a top-four spot in the Premier League, it will not be a total surprise if Lampard is planning to use the 19-year-old vs the relatively weaker opponents.
We don’t think Gilmour will be playing week in and week out during the second half of the season but if players like Kante and Jorginho cannot up their game then it wouldn’t take much for Lampard to name Billy Gilmour in the starting XI.
