Chelsea technical director Petr Cech has revealed Billy Gilmour and Conor Gallagher were close to breaking into the first-team.

Gilmour has endured a tough loan spell with Norwich City, while Gallagher recently earned a call-up to the England squad due to his superb performances for Crystal Palace.

And Cech says both players will play a role at Chelsea in the future.

"Conor was very close in terms of making the team here in the summer and we were really happy with him but it was the same as with Billy Gilmour and we felt at that stage of their careers they needed to go and play as many games as possible," Cech wrote in his column on the club website.

"They are both at the stage where we really want them to become core players for Chelsea so it was better for them to go and play."