Billy Gilmour joins Norwich City on season-long loan

Billy Gilmour signs for Norwich on loan

Norwich have won the battle to sign Billy Gilmour from Chelsea on a season-long loan.

The young midfielder was linked to a number of Premier League sides, including Newcastle and Wolves, but Daniel Farke managed to convince Thomas Tuchel and the Chelsea board that this would be the right move for their burgeoning midfield star.

The Chelsea boss rejected Gilmour's request to go out on loan in January, wanting to keep him close to the first team for the remainder of last season. But with N'Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho remaining ahead of the young Scot in the pecking order it was important to get him minutes and further his development.

Tuchel worked closely with the board to find the right team to send Gilmour to. Of the teams clamoring for his signature, Norwich play a system similar to that of Chelsea's. Farke deploys 'double sixes' which will prepare the midfielder for his return to Stamford Bridge.

On his move to the newly-promoted side, Gilmour said 'I spoke to the manager here [Daniel Farke]. He called me and we had a nice talk about how he wants to play and how he sees me fitting in.

'Everything he said was what I want to do on the pitch, get the ball down and play nice football. He spoke really highly of his team and I wanted to come join here and help.

'The manager has a lot of faith in young players. He was saying that he’ll fit you in if you’re ready. I can see by when Norwich got relegated and came back up, he stuck by them and that shows how much faith you should have in the manager as well.'

The Norwich boss has spoken about their exciting loan signing.

Daniel Farke added: 'We are really happy to have brought Billy in. We must say a big thank you to Chelsea and all those involved for making this deal happen. 

Gilmour and Mason Mount at Euro 2020

'We got the feeling that he can help us a lot with his ability to link the play, his technical qualities and also his work against the ball. From the football point of view, but also from his character he is the perfect fit to our squad.

'He will help us to achieve our targets. We still have to keep in mind that he is an unbelievably young guy and that he hasn't played regularly on this level. We have to give him some time and space to improve and find his rhythm.' 

Billy Gilmour enjoyed a man of the match performance against England at Wembley. But his Euro 2020 was cut short after catching Covid-19. Forcing him to miss Scotland's final group game and delaying his loan deal until completing a period of self-isolation.

'Everything was going well, getting picked for my country and playing in the Euros,' he added.

'To miss a game out because of coronavirus wasn’t good but it was a little break and I’m now here, ready to go.

'I was so proud to represent my country at the Euros against England at Wembley. It doesn’t get much better than that.

'I really enjoyed the match, I was gutted about what happened in the end but it was a great step forward for me.'