Chelsea and Scotland Under-21 international Billy Gilmour has admitted a sense of living the dream after lining up in training alongside players he had only previously played with in FIFA.
Gilmour, 17, is a member of Chelsea’s developmental squad in the Premier League 2 this season and went on to score on his debut against Blackburn Rovers last month.
The former Rangers sensation has quickly risen through the different various age groups at Chelsea and was also named ‘Revelation of the Tournament’ at the Toulon Tournament in France earlier this year.
The midfielder has already participated in training sessions with the first team at Cobham and revealed that it was a great experience to come up against some of the best names in European football.
Gilmour worked alongside senior stars Eden Hazard, Cesc Fabregas and Olivier Giroud in Chelsea training.
And he concedes the closest he got to doing so before was loading up computer game FIFA.
“Yes, it was a good experience. I went there with other two boys so when we went around, we went around the training pitch”, Gilmour told BBC Scotland.
“And then we started to see Hazard come out, Fabregas, Giroud and you’re thinking like, jeez, you play with them in FIFA.
“But now the standard is amazing and just to get up close to them and see, watch what they do and it’s unbelievable.”
Gilmour took the risk of relocating from Glasgow to London at the tender age of 16 and added that he was indeed enjoying the challenge at such a young age.
“Yes, sometimes you can break under that but no, I was just loving it.
“Getting on the ball and doing your stuff in the training sessions – and then you're passing to Hazard or hitting a shot at Courtois, that's dreams”, he added.
Gilmour is expected to play a part in Chelsea Under-23s next game at home against Leicester City in the Premier League 2.
