Rangers set to give first team debut to 15 year-old Billy Gilmour?

Rangers could hand 15-year-old Billy Gilmour his first team debut this weekend in the Scottish Cup tie with Morton at Ibrox after the youngster joined Mark Warburton’s squad as they prepared at Auchenhowie. The midfielder doesn’t turn 16 until June but has already attracted interest from Arsenal, Chelsea, Bayern Munich and a host of other clubs.

After breaking through into the Under 20 side under Graeme Murty, Gilmour has put in consistently impressive performances, grabbing his first goal for the U20’s in the recent Youth Cup tie with Falkirk, and fans have been keen to see the youngster in action.

The Scottish Cup offers a unique opportunity to give the Scottish youth cap some first team game time as the SPFL forbids players under the age of 16 from playing first team (or even reserve league) football however the Scottish Cup has a loophole allowing clubs to register under 16’s as amateur players.

Despite his red card in Tuesday’s Development League win over Hibs, Gilmour would be free to play against Morton but faces a two-match ban at U20 level. If he does appear he would surpass Derek Ferguson (16 years and 24 days) as the club’s youngest ever player by 143 days.