Norwich City sign Billy Gilmour on loan from Chelsea

Scotland midfielder joins newly-promoted Premier League side for upcoming season

Billy Gilmour made 11 appearances for Chelsea last season. Reuters

Norwich City have agreed a season-long loan deal to bring in Chelsea midfielder Billy Gilmour.

The 20-year-old made headlines last month after an excellent display for Scotland in their 0-0 Euro 2020 group stage draw with England at Wembley

His joy proved short-lived, though, after testing positive for Covid-19 following the game Gilmour was forced into isolation, missing Scotland's 3-1 defeat against Croatia that saw them exit the tournament.

Newly-promoted Norwich have beaten rival Premier League sides to his signature, much to the delight of Canaries manager Daniel Farke.

“We are really happy to have brought Billy in,” said Farke, who last month lost key midfielder Emiliano Buendia after the Argentine signed for Aston Villa in a £33 million deal.

“We must say a big thank you to Chelsea and all those involved for making this deal happen. I think it helped that in the past we have shown that young players with potential are in good hands here at Norwich City.

“We got the feeling that he can help us a lot with his ability to link the play, his technical qualities and also his work against the ball. From the football point of view, but also from his character he is the perfect fit for us.”

Gilmour made 11 appearances for Chelsea last season as they finished fourth in the Premier League and won their second Champions League title after beating Manchester City in the final, where he was unused substitute.

The former Rangers youth-team player, who has just completed a 10-day period of self-isolation after his positive Covid test, said: “I’m very excited to be here. I can’t wait for the season ahead. I’ve been looking forward to coming here, playing as much as possible and helping Norwich City compete in the Premier League.

“I spoke to the head coach. He called me and we had a nice talk about how he wants to play and how he sees me fitting in.

“Everything he said was what I want to do on the pitch, get the ball down and play nice football. He spoke really highly of his team and I wanted to come join here and help.

“There are very exciting times ahead, coming in for pre-season and seeing all the lads. Let's get to it.”