Glasgow Rangers ‘among the contenders’ for Billy Gilmour loan in January — report

Frank Lampard seemed to hint quite clearly last night that Billy Gilmour isn’t going anywhere in January, but that hasn’t stopped the rumor mill from linking the 19-year-old with a temporary return to where it all started for him, (Glasgow) Rangers.

Chelsea signed the promising midfielder from our brothers in Blue three years ago, but according to the Times, he could be heading back up north. Rangers are supposedly “keen” to sign him up for the second half of the season, with the expectation being that he’d “struggle” for playing time at Chelsea, especially if we bring in Declan Rice — which is not at all likely in January, but again, that’s not going to stop the rumor mill.

It should be noted that the byline on the Times’ story is the same as the story in the Scottish Sun, which doesn’t exactly add to its credibility.

Yesterday, Lampard talked about making sure that the “pathway” for Billy is correct, bringing up last season’s pathway as an example, when the youngster stayed with the team, splitting time and appearances between the seniors and the reserves. The report may expect him to “struggle” for playing time, but based on last night, that really shouldn’t be the case. He won’t be a starter (yet), but he would be a useful backup. We certainly have plenty of games coming up for him to earn plenty of minutes.