Graeme
Souness says Billy Gilmour should follow Phil Foden's example at Manchester
City and remain at Chelsea to challenge for first-team football rather than
head out on loan.
Norwich City are in talks to sign Gilmour on loan but face competition from
a number of other clubs for the midfielder, with Chelsea open to the idea of
the 20-year-old getting more game time next season.
Gilmour picked up UEFA's man-of-the-match award against England before
contracting coronavirus and subsequently missing Scotland's final Euro 2020
group game against Croatia on Tuesday night.
Scotland exited the tournament with just the point against England to their
name, but Gilmour's performance at Wembley turned heads after a battling
display reduced Gareth Southgate's side to just the one shot on target in
the goalless draw.
To further his development, Souness believes Gilmour should stay at Chelsea,
referencing the fact England forward Foden remained at City under Pep
Guardiola when a loan spell may have given the youngster more playing time
in previous seasons.
Souness told Sky Sports News: "I'd personally keep him at Chelsea. I think
Jorginho has to be looking over his shoulder. He'll be challenging him more
than anyone else. I look at Phil Foden at City and Pep didn't let him go out
on loan.
"I look back on my own career and think how did I improve - there was no
words of wisdom, no sentence any coach said to me, there was no watershed
moment in my career where I turned a corner.
"What made me better, I was 23, went to Liverpool, arguably the best team in
the world - certainly the best team in Europe - and I was playing with
fabulous players in training every single day.
"I learnt to think quicker, to improve my touch, move the ball quicker and
just being around winners - Chelsea have got bundles of them - that will
improve him more than playing in a lesser team where it's a battle every
week. That's how I see it, Phil Foden is an argument for that."
Foden made 50 appearances in all competitions for City in 2020-21, with the
21-year-old seeing his role increased following the departure of David
Silva, while he was often favoured over Raheem Sterling in the latter parts
of the season.
It was comfortably Foden's best season for City, almost doubling his minutes
from the previous campaign, while nine goals in the Premier League saw him
named PFA Young Player of the Year.
Meanwhile, Gilmour began the season out with a knee injury but went on to
make 11 appearances, starting Chelsea's first four FA Cup games as well as
league matches against Fulham, City and Arsenal in May.
Souness believes Gilmour has the potential to become a "fabulous" player,
with the Scot only making his international debut just before Euro 2020 in a
warm-up fixture against the Netherlands.
"He was willing to take the ball in tight areas," Souness said. "There was
so much to admire [against England]. I was concerned about the tempo of the
game and was thinking he'd blow up but he didn't.
"He showed real character and wanted to be the boss on the pitch. That's at
20 years old at Wembley in a team that didn't do well in their first game.
If that's his level he's going to be a fabulous little player."
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