Chelsea loanee Billy Gilmour should trade Norwich City for Leeds United in January, according to former England international and Sky Sports pundit Kevin Phillips.
The Lowdown: Gilmour a big talent
The 20-year-old is arguably one of the most exciting young midfielders in Britain, shining for Scotland at Euro 2020 and being called 'fantastic' by Jose Mourinho.
However, with minutes hard to come by at Chelsea, Gilmour is currently on loan at Norwich, where he has struggled to get going this season. The Canaries are rock-bottom of the Premier League and the Scot has only managed four starts for them in the top flight.
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The Latest: Leeds urged to snap him up
Speaking to Football Insider, Phillips said that Gilmour should instead move to Leeds in January in order to get the best out of his ability.
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel is reportedly considering recalling the 20-year-old from his Canaries loan spell, with Elland Road having been mooted as a possible destination for the youngster during the summer transfer window prior to joining Norwich.
Phillips outlined:
"Gilmour hasn’t got much game time under his belt, and I can’t see why with where Norwich are in the league. There’s no point in him going back to Chelsea because he will hardly play.
"He should go back out on loan to somewhere like Leeds. Bielsa plays good football, they aren’t rooted to the bottom of the Premier League, and he will probably get more game time.
"Leeds play more of the type of football Gilmour is suited to, so it would be a great move for him. We’ve seen Bielsa get the best out of some youngsters and there’s no reason why he couldn’t do that with Gilmour.
"His next move has to be to go somewhere where he will play because we don’t want a young player completely disappearing."
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The Verdict: Brilliant potential signing
While Gilmour hasn't exactly set the world alight at Norwich, the Canaries' struggles as a team are perhaps the main reason for that.
The youngster remains a superb prospect and his ball-playing style could excel at Leeds, with the midfielder averaging a 90.9% pass completion rate at Euro 2020. By way of comparison, no member of Marcelo Bielsa's current squad has averaged more than 88.5% for that metric over the course of the season so far.
Bringing him in would provide Bielsa with more midfield depth until the end of the campaign. If that happens and Gilmour strongly impress, the Whites could even attempt to sign him permanently from Chelsea, although the Blues may not entertain that possibility given the youngster's obvious talent.
In other news, a pundit has made a worrying Leeds injury claim. Find out who it is regarding here.