BILLY GILMOUR can be Chelsea’s midfield general for years to come, according to former Blues hero Glenn Hoddle.
The 63-year-old believes the young Scot has already made a great case to replace Jorginho in Thomas Tuchel’s line-up.
The Italian, along with Mateo Kovacic and N’Golo Kante, starred in Chelsea‘s Champions League triumph with Gilmour making a handful of appearances in the latter weeks of the season.
But the Scotland star’s performance against England at Euro 2020 showed that he is ready for more Blues action, in the eyes of Hoddle.
The former Chelsea player-manager told Betfair: “Billy Gilmour had a good game, and there’s still more to come, but it was his first game and he was excellent.
“He can only grow and get better. He’s not really match fit, so he’s going to get better.
“He keeps the ball well and he’s such a young player. He showed a lot of maturity.
“He’s instantly the replacement for Jorginho at Chelsea, they won’t have to look in the market for someone because he is already there, learning and developing into a great player.”
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Jorginho has also enjoyed a strong start to the Euros, starting all three of Italy’s wins in Group A.
And the midfielder, 29, is intent on remaining in Chelsea next season despite a number of previous links with a Serie A return.
Meanwhile, Gilmour has been ruled out of Scotland’s Group D decider with coronavirus.
The 0-0 draw with England led to much of the Wembley faithful unhappy but Hoddle has called for calm.
The manager of the Three Lions’ 1998 World Cup campaign insisted that the knockouts are all that matters and could also suit this team’s style more.
He noted: “We’ve got four points and we’re in a good position to qualify.
“No one remembers the group stages when you get to the quarters and semi-finals.
“We still look vulnerable to the top teams defensively but playing them might be our strength as well.
“They’ll open up and attack us and this England team might cause people problems with time and space to use the ball.
“Both teams they’ve played against have dropped back and England found it hard to break through.”
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