Just turned 23 and sporting a chin full of stubble, Billy the Kid is ready to complete the journey from boy to man.
It’s three years since Scotland midfielder Billy Gilmour announced his arrival at the Euros with a mature performance against England at Wembley. Coronavirus proved a tougher opponent than the Three Lions.
‘I found out the next morning that I had Covid, so I had to isolate,’ the Brighton midfielder recalls now. ‘I had to go straight to my house. I had my car, so I had to drive straight there, no stops.
‘So that was isolation for 10 days. I felt fine, but you can’t do anything with Covid.
‘I had my neighbour making me food. I stay in a top-level apartment in London and my neighbour below — she also knew my mum — would text her asking if I was okay.
Billy Gilmour is set to get Scotland’s Euro 2024 campaign off and running against Germany
At the last Euros, Gilmour impressed in a 0-0 draw against England but caught Covid-19
It meant Gilmour was forced to watch on as Scotland were knocked out in the group stage
‘She would bring up lunch, breakfast and dinner and just leave it at my front door.
‘All I remember is watching the final game (against Croatia) in my room, not being able to do anything.’
The frustration was compounded by the sight of Luka Modric delivering a Hampden masterclass to eliminate Scotland in the final group game. A midfield magician, the pint-sized Real Madrid maestro is the type of player Gilmour aspires to be.
Toni Kroos is another, and Scotland’s finest talent in a generation will be given the opportunity to show that he can emulate the very best when he goes up against the German in the Allianz Arena tomorrow night.
‘After the England game, I knew I could have had a chance of playing another game or playing a part against Croatia, and especially to go up against Modric,’ Gilmour admits now. ‘Mateo Kovacic was playing in that game as well.
‘That did hurt a bit. I couldn’t do anything about it.
‘I remember watching it and Modric was unbelievable. His goal was unbelievable as well.
‘When special players like Modric and Kroos do things like that, you just have to take your hat off to them.
‘I always watched Barcelona, I always watched Iniesta. I watched YouTube for Fabregas, Iniesta, Xavi and, of course, Modric and Kroos.
‘When you go into a game now and you watch highlights of clips, you can see how well they play football. It’s pretty impressive.
‘I try to do the same stuff in games, but everyone is different. When you watch Toni Kroos, he is always very calm on the ball and composed.’
In the three years since the last Euros, the kid from Ayrshire has grown up. He left Chelsea for a season on loan at Norwich City where he looked like a fish out of water. Moving to Brighton under Roberto De Zerbi was the making of the man.
Gilmour said he has relished the opportunity of playing regular first team football at Brighton
The 23-year-old revealed how he can’t wait to test himself against Germany’s Toni Kroos
People stopped thinking of him as the boy with all that potential.
‘I am 23 now, so… people always look at me, maybe height, stature: “Small boy, only a kid”.
‘I get that. I get it a lot. It’s not something that annoys me. It’s just I am not a young kid now.
‘I have been in the game a good while now, I know my place, I know I have gained experience and can be a help to Tommy (Conway).
‘Myself and Nathan Patterson came into the squad from young and we can show the pathway is achievable for the young ones in Scotland.’
Before this season, the most first-team games Gilmour had managed in a single campaign were the 28 he played in the midst of a doomed campaign with the Canaries.
Booed by supporters, the season ended in relegation.
A £7million move to Brighton suited better. He played every week, he expressed himself, he became an established figure in the English Premier League.
He reached 50 appearances in a single season for the first time in his career.
‘I really enjoyed it, from the start of the Premier League season,’ admits Gilmour.
‘Playing the majority of the games, I had the trust of my manager. And we have a good team, I love the way we play football.
‘That style has suited me on the ball. Going into every game, we knew we had a really good chance of beating the other team.
‘You have to have a little bit of that confidence.’
That’s a quality he will most certainly need when Kroos and his Germany team-mates come into view tomorrow night.
Gilmour believes Scotland can beat Germany in Friday’s Euro 2024 opener in Munich
However, he was quick to acknowledge all of the talent Julian Nagelsmann’s squad possess
‘Toni Kroos is a top player. He has won everything in the game,’ acknowledges Gilmour. ‘He has now retired from Real Madrid at the top and he is still unbelievable.
‘So, for me, if I do get the opportunity to play against him, I’ll be buzzing.
‘You can’t just focus on one player, though. The Germans have top, top players in their team. Musiala is a top player, Kai Havertz, Wirtz. Everyone. They are a top, top team.’
Here in Germany, though, the locals don’t really know what to expect from their national side.
There’s some uncertainty, fuelled by an awful World Cup in Qatar when they spent more time discussing rainbow armbands and human rights than football.
The return of Kroos from retirement helps, of course, and Scotland’s best hope of curtailing the midfield maestro is to keep the ball away from him.
‘I think that will be the aim for us,’ Gilmour says. ‘When we have the ball, they can’t score.
‘So it’s probably the best thing for us to do. We will go out there versus Germany and give it our all and, hopefully, try to win the game.’
Whatever happens, this time, Gilmour plans to keep hold of his boots. Ordered into Covid isolation after Wembley, he never did find out where his match boots or shinpads went. The pads were personalised with images of him wearing a Scotland shirt and members of his family.
In Munich tomorrow night, he’ll be able to see dad Billy in the flesh. Irrespective of whether his son made the squad or not, Gilmour Senior was always heading to Germany to take out a tournament membership of the Tartan Army.
Hosts Germany are overwhelming favourites, but Gilmour backed his side to cause an upset
Gilmour claimed Scotland know they are a good team and have a point to prove in Germany
‘My dad was saying to me, no matter what, he’d be here with all his friends anyway,’ says Gilmour. ‘It has been a dream of his. My dad, mum, brother, all my dad’s mates, my family, his uncles, they are all excited and can’t wait.’
Confidence has been dented by a raft of injuries to players including Aaron Hickey, Nathan Patterson, Lyndon Dykes and Liverpool youngster Ben Doak, on top of a run of two wins from the last nine games. Seven of those were friendlies, however, and Clarke’s team have won 15 of their last 21 competitive internationals.
‘When it comes to competitive games, our record has been very good,’ said Gilmour. ‘We beat Spain and Norway away. We fight to the last.
‘We’ll take it game by game but, for us, we want to get out of the group. Of course Germany is going to be a difficult game but we back ourselves.’
