Former Norwich City defender Malky Mackay believes Canaries loan target Billy Gilmour is “something special” and has been tipping him for the top in recent years.
City are understood to be on course to seal the season-long loan of the Chelsea talent, a player that Mackay has watched the development of closely during his time in a senior position at the Scottish Football Association.
The former Watford, Cardiff and Wigan manager stepped down from his role of performance director in November, after a four-year spell which had included stepping in as caretaker of the national team for one game following the exit of Gordon Strachan in 2017.
That included a particular focus on youth development and four years Mackay ago had told the BBC that Gilmour had the potential to be an “incredibly exciting talent” having captained Scotland at under-17 level.
After joining Chelsea from Rangers as he turned 16, the energetic central midfielder was subsequently capped at U21 level just before his 17th birthday, impressing with three appearances at the prestigious Toulon Tournament and winning the Revelation of the Tournament award as the Scots lost to Turkey in a semi-final penalty shootout.
“Billy is someone I’ve been impatient about for a number of years now,” Mackay told The Scotsman recently. “We took him to the Toulon tournament with Scotland under-21s when he was 17 because I had a firm belief this kid is something special.
“He ended up playing, becoming the breakthrough player at a tournament of that esteem, scoring a goal and captaining the team.”
The former Celtic centre-back, who made 232 appearances for Norwich between 1998 and 2004, has been a high-profile supporter of Gilmour’s talent throughout his development.
That has come to the fore with 22 appearances for Chelsea in the past two seasons, which were disrupted by missing around four months of last year with a knee injury.
The 20-year-old returned to contention during the second half of the season and earned his Scotland senior chance, winning three caps and gaining widespread praise after a 0-0 draw with England at the Euros.
Mackay, who has taken over as manager of Scottish Premiership side Ross County this summer, spoke to the Press Association about Gilmour last year and said: “I have been excited about him since he was 16. He is a player of the next generation.
“We had a chat with the staff and said Christian Eriksen played for Denmark at 18 and we have a kid that has the potential to be a top, top player.
“There is some good talent coming through now but I have not seen someone like him for years.”
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