Chelsea youngster Billy Gilmour has been the talk of the media since his top class performance against Liverpool in the FA Cup fifth round tie at Stamford Bridge as, as the Blues sent Jurgen Klopp’s team packing.
Gilmour stood out in the middle of the park and was named as the man of the match. Of course, much will be expected of the youngster in the coming months and years as the 18-year-old is highly rated.
Chelsea beat Manchester United, Arsenal and Barcelona to sign Gilmour as a 16-year-old in 2017. It was Barcelona that showed particular interest as they noted that the midfielder possessed the speed of thought, passing range and mental toughness that has become so renowned at the Nou Camp in the last decade.
Players like Gilmour who are good technically tend to lack toughness on the pitch, but Gilmour has revealed how he has been working on his toughness since being bullied by Manchester United centre-back Harry Maguire in the Carabao Cup meeting in October.
Gilmour cast his mind back to when Maguire grabbed him by the neck and ruffled him all game.
He said: “That was pointless for Maguire but obviously he is going to try to bully young ones and that’s where I need to learn how to be stronger.
“I have been working on that and can only get stronger as a player.”
“Basically he was saying I am a wee guy so he was pushing me off and grabbing me by the throat and that is something I have to deal with, and I won’t let that happen again, that is for sure. That was a lesson,” Gilmour says.
“Obviously he is going try to bully young ones and that is what I need to learn in the game. I have to be stronger and I have been working on that and I can only get stronger. That was a learning curve when he picked me up in the box.”