Thomas Tuchel has been warned that Billy Gilmour could be surplus to requirements at Chelsea next season following an unconvincing season-long loan at Norwich City. The 20-year-old midfielder was initially frozen out at Carrow Road having failed to impress, but reclaimed a spot in the first-team once Dean Smith replaced Daniel Farke.
However, despite the Scotland international's best efforts, he's struggled to impose himself at the Canaries despite arriving with a big reputation to fulfil. Gilmour, who sees his contract at Stamford Bridge expire at the end of next season, has featured 21 times in the Premier League this season as Norwich have dived towards relegation.
The Chelsea boss was a big fan of the Scotsman ahead of his move to Norfolk and set him the challenge of becoming a 'top player'. Despite acknowledging the risk at hand, Tuchel explained that Gilmour wanted a better chance of first-team opportunities.
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"I love Billy," the German said, speaking in October. "He decided to go to have a better chance to get some minutes. We want him to perform.
"If you decide to go on loan, it’s as simple as that – you need to be on the pitch, perform, be a top player, if you want to make it here. He’s our player. we love him, but changing a club is a huge risk, huge step.
"Now’s not the time to speak about coming back. He just needs to show what he can do. No coach will leave the best players out, that’s what he needs to prove. That Norwich is a better team with him."
However, Gilmour has struggled to answer Tuchel's challenge. And, as a result, Tony Cascarino has delivered brutal but honest verdict on the midfielder's prospects of breaking into the Chelsea starting-eleven next season.
Speaking on talkSPORT, the former Blue insisted Gilmour has gone 'backwards' in the road to becoming a 'top player'. He said: "The lad Gilmour that came to Norwich, didn’t do particularly well at the club, and the fans turned on him at the start season.
"He’s a terrific young footballer but, somehow, he’s not grown. We talk all the time about young lads going elsewhere and improving – the lad Williams as well from Man United – but they’ve gone backwards this year. Two players have gone there from big clubs have gone backwards at Norwich."
Upon Gilmour's return to Cobham in the summer, he's set to face competition from Jorginho, N'Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic, Mason Mount and Conor Gallagher for a place in Tuchel's midfield Though, the former two sees their deals run out too in June 2023, handing the £12.6million-rated Scotsman, as per CIES Football Observatory, a mere silver-lining.
