Former England and Tottenham Hotspur manager Glenn Hoddle insists Chelsea youngster Billy Gilmour is the ideal long-term replacement for Jorginho at Stamford Bridge after his impressive performance in Scotland's goalless draw with England on Friday evening.
Handed his first senior star for his country by manager Steve Clarke, Gilmour produced an excellent performance in the engine room to restrict a star-studded England side to virtually nothing in an underwhelming Euro 2020 contest at Wembley.
The Chelsea youngster's performance earned him the player of the match award, ensuring he had a first start to remember.
That performance, both from Gilmour individually and Scotland as a whole, gave their supporters optimism that they will progress to the last-16 when they face Croatia at Hampden Park tomorrow evening. However, Gilmour has since been ruled out of the contest after returning a positive coronavirus test, which will spell the end of his Euro 2020 adventure if the Scots fail to progress.
Despite that, it has not denied Hoddle the chance to hail his showing, as well as admitting that he feels the 20-year-old could be a like-for-like replacement for Jorginho at Stamford Bridge in the future.
"Billy Gilmour had a good game, and there’s still more to come, but it was his first game and he was excellent," Hoddle told Betfair.
"He can only grow and get better. He’s not really match fit, so he’s going to get better. He keeps the ball well and he’s such a young player. He showed a lot of maturity.
"He’s instantly the replacement for Jorginho at Chelsea, they won’t have to look in the market for someone because he is already there, learning and developing into a great player."
Considering that Chelsea are reported to have rekindled their interest in West Ham United ace Declan Rice this summer, Hoddle's advice could save them massive amounts of money in the transfer window.
Rice is valued at around £80million by the Hammers, meaning if Chelsea were to pursue a move for the England international it could see them miss out on landing other targets because of the size of the fee they would have to pay to sign the defensive-midfielder.
But if head coach Thomas Tuchel opted to hand Gilmour more opportunities to impress next season, he could step up and be the ideal long-term replacement for Jorginho, once the time comes for him to call it a day on his Chelsea career.
Chelsea do have other options in the centre of midfield, with N'Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho currently ahead of Gilmour in the pecking order.
