Three big questions: Chelsea’s Billy Gilmour and the pipeline

Chelsea’s Billy Gilmour broke through last season but injury ended his run prematurely. What questions should be asked ahead of the new season?

The youth revolution was mainly about players returning from the loan army, but the other side of it was players breaking through direct from the academy. Many got their chance, but only Billy Gilmour managed to break through the barrier. Unfortunately, like so many other youth players who broke through, he got injured and missed the end of the season. What questions should be asked of him for when he returns?

1. Will his injury hurt his development?

This is the one that always has to be asked with a long term injury on a young player. Ultimately, no one really will be able to look back on an injury so early and say it did this or that, but it is still worth considering the effects.

First of all, it was a knee injury. The main concern there is reinjury later on, but he did go ahead and get surgery for it. He is expected to be out for three or four months, but given Chelsea’s recent history with aggravating injuries, it could be longer (either through playing it safe or further injury).

He is probably due back to training sometime in October with playing minutes coming in November or December. Given he last played in July, that is in effect a long summer break for him, though it unfortunately also comes after the Covid break.

The main thing in Gilmour’s favor is that he is not necessarily a physical player. Yes, he is aggressive in some of his pressing and positioning but that is all built on a cerebral foundation. A loss of pace at his age and with his style is barely going to be noticeable if at all.

So long as he works to get his technique sharped back up, he should be about the same guy that last played for Chelsea. It is more important that he is not reinjured in his rehabilitation because that would truly cause concern about his development.