Midfielder Billy Gilmour has joined newly-promoted Norwich City on loan, Chelsea have officially confirmed.
The 20-year-old, who was forced to miss Scotland's final group match at Euro 2020 after testing positive for coronavirus, has joined the Canaries, who were promoted back to the Premier League last season at the first attempt, for the duration of the 2021/22 campaign.
The move to Carrow Road will allow Gilmour to play regularly in the Premier League and gain some much-needed valuable experience.
He has not been sent out on loan before by Chelsea since joining the club back in 2017, meaning this will offer him a great opportunity to take his game to the next level.
On completing the signing of the Chelsea youngster, Norwich boss Daniel Farke told the Canaries' club website: "We are really happy to have brought Billy in. 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 are delighted to bring Billy in because we’ve lost some players in that area. We’re looking to improve our options, particularly in the centre of the park, and for that we’re happy to bring Billy in.
"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 to our squad.
"He will help us to achieve our targets. We still have to keep in mind that he is an unbelievably young guy and that he hasn’t played regularly on this level. We have to give him some time and space to improve and find his rhythm.
"All in all, we got the feeling that he can help us achieve our targets and he’s a perfect fit for us."
Gilmour will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Oliver Skipp, who spent last season on loan at Carrow Road. Skipp was hugely successful during the Canaries' Championship title-winning tilt, and Gilmour will be hoping to replicate a similar level of success.
