“I just wasn’t in the plans” - Ex-Chelsea star says Thomas Tuchel banished him to reserves before exit
Billy Gilmour has revealed that he had to leave Chelsea after Thomas Tuchel refused to give him a chance in pre-season. He says that the German manager asked him and two others to train away from the first team and sent them to the reserves.
The Scot landed a move to Brighton & Hove Albion last summer and has now sealed his place in the starting XI. He told talkSPORT on Wednesday (September 20) that he was forced out of Chelsea by Tuchel:
“When I came back from my loan from Norwich, I came back and had pre-season, and I just wasn’t in the plans. I ended up leaving pre-season with the first team to go with the reserves.
"So, we were in America for pre-season, and then me and two other boys got told there’s not going to be really a chance here. We’re not going to have another opportunity. We’re going to send you with the reserves."
Gilmour continued:
“For me, I was like, right, OK, straight away I knew I wasn’t in the plans, and at that point I was thinking, well, I want to be at a club that really appreciates me, and I want to be part of the team.
"I want to play first-team football. I’ve had a taste for it. I’ve played for my country, so I want to try and push on now. For me, it was the right time to leave. I spoke with the manager at the time, Thomas Tuchel, and he thought the same."
Gilmour added:
“In pre-season, it kind of kept getting more and more that I was going to leave. I wasn’t seeing much chance in the first-team, so I took the decision and said, ‘OK, I want to push on now and do what’s best for me’, and that was to be at a club that appreciates me.
"I want to play football. I want to really settle down and try and find a house and home and be here and give my all.”
Brighton signed Gilmour that summer from Chelsea for £10 million on a four-year contract.
Thomas Tuchel wanted Chelsea's Billy Gilmour to go out on loan again
Thomas Tuchel was asked last summer for his decision to let Billy Gilmour leave in the summer.
He said that the club had high expectations from the Scot during his loan spell at Norwich City and come back with a lot more experience.
"We expected more," Tuchel told footballlondon. He expected more so it was like, without pointing a finger, but it is difficult also for him and for us to not succeed, to not play at Norwich, to be relegated and then suddenly be a central midfielder for Chelsea and competing for top four and for every title."
However, he added that the midfielder was not ready to play for them after coming back from the relegated side. The German manager added that he wanted the youngster to go out on another loan, so he kept Gilmour away from the first team:
"There's a huge step in between, so we were looking. The ideal solution would have been maybe that he goes again on loan as the concurrence is huge for us in central midfield, and we felt like he is not the age where he can live again with five or seven or eight matches during a whole season to fulfil his own potential so ideally it would have been another loan.
"Billy did not want to go on loan, it was a no-go for him, so in the end, we agreed to a sale."
Tuchel was sacked by Chelsea days later and replaced by Graham Potter, the manager who had signed Gilmour at Brighton.