Billy Gilmour conquering Serie A with Napoli has old pal Harry Cochrane pondering Juventus what ifs

Daily Record

16 hours ago

Former Hearts prodigy is still only 24 and looking to work his way back to the top seven years on from Juve sliding doors moment
Watching Billy Gilmour conquer Serie A brought a smile to Harry Cochrane's face. And a deep sense of what could have been.
The former Hearts prodigy was delighted to see his old Grange Academy, Rangers and Scotland youth team mate snaffle the Scudetto.
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But he can't help shake the feeling it really could have been him.
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Ten years earlier the duo had stood in the San Siro as wide-eyed 13-year-old kids from the SFA performance School in Kilmarnock to watch Carlos Tevez inspire Juventus to a 1-0 win over Milan en-route to the Serie A title.
A decade on and here was Gilmour swapping the stands for the big stage with Napoli and doing the exact same.
It's been a sensational year in Italian football for the so-called 'Tartan-accio' of Gilmour, Scott McTominay, Lewis Ferguson, Josh Doig and Che Adams. Not forgetting the trailblazer Liam Henderson now in his eighth season .
But while Cochrane bursts with pride for his old pal there's a gnawing sensation which refuses to go away at the back of his mind.
It's been there for over seven years. Since he burst sensationally onto the Premiership scene as a 16-year-old kid at Hearts, becoming the Jambos' youngest ever goalscorer as he helped end Celtic's 69-game unbeaten run in a 4-0 Tynecastle trouncing.
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Cochrane's form in that breakthrough season caught the eye of Italian giants Juventus.
More than just interest, the midfielder met with a Juve representative in a Bothwell restaurant and spoke football, ambitions and pasta.
Like any teenager he was thrilled. Excited beyond belief. Then, for whatever reason, the follow-up call from Italy never arrived.
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Fast forward seven years and Cochrane - still only 24 - has just left Queen of the South as he looks to climb the ranks again.
And opening up on that brush with a Turin break, Cochrane told Mail Sport: 'What could have been… it would have been brilliant.
'My dad had even offered to move over with me. I said, 'you can't just leave my mum here!'
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'But it looked like it was happening and even though dad told me not to get over-excited before there was a concrete offer, it was hard not to.
'Juventus sent a guy over to meet us. I can't remember his name.
'We met in a wee restaurant in Bothwell. It was just me, my family and the Juve guy.
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'Just talking football, really. It wasn't anything like deals or anything like that. It was basically just to meet me over a meal.
'I remember getting a Carbonara and the said 'Carbonara?'
'I said, to him, 'yeah, that's Italian'.
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'He went, 'no, no that's definitely not Italian!'.
'Maybe that's what put him off!
'They said they were going to make a bid.
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'It was the best news that I'd had in my life, anybody at that age is going to think,' wow, this is mental'.
'But nothing happened. For it to come crashing down - it sort of set me back a wee bit mentally.
'But I've been in the game for a while now, I'm still only 24, I've still got hopes and dreams that I can go back up to the level I was playing at.'
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Cochrane could be well excused for having mixed emotions watching Gilmour tear it up in the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium. But he couldn't be happier for his old pal.
He said: 'I was at school with Billy, played in the same Rangers youth team til 13 and then the Scotland age groups.
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'We went on a school trip to Italy in second year and we always shared a room. We went to the San Siro to watch AC Milan v Juventus.
'It's absolutely incredible what he's gone on to achieve. What a season they've had at Napoli.
'I sent him a message to say congratulations. He always gets back to me, to be fair to him.
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'I remember playing in the Victory Shield. with Scotland, my dad told me the guy doing the commentary was calling me the Duracell Bunny.
'He was saying 'just let Gilmour have the ball and Cochrane run about tackling people!'
'You could always tell Billy was going to be one of the best. He has been since he was really young.'
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Serie A is a long way from League One in Scotland but Cochrane insists he has no regrets about quitting Hearts four years ago.
He reckons he's a better player for his time at Queens where he spent his third season, under Marvin Bartley, as captain.
Now, about to become a dad for the second time with a little girl due to join his two-year-old son Albie, Cochrane is weighing up his next move.
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He said: 'I always question myself about turning down that new deal at Hearts four years ago. But I just wanted to go and play football.
'I wasn't getting that at Hearts at the time. I'd been out on loan at Dunfermline and Montrose. I still think it was the right decision.
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'I'm better for those four years at Queens, playing regular first team football. Being captain for a season added responsibility.
'Marvin asked me if I wanted to be the captain and I was never going to say no. That's a privilege.
'I had to do team talks before the games, which I wasn't used to.
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'The first one was against Motherwell in the cup. I just said a few things and added 'lads it's Motherwell not Barcelona, let's go!'
'We drew 3-3, so it must have worked! But it's time to move on again. I'm young, I'm experienced, I work hard on the pitch and do the right things off it. The goal is to get back to playing at the top.
'I'd be open to going anywhere. But with my partner Caitlin being pregnant again it's not just a decision for me to make. It's the whole family.
'That's why I'm taking my time. It has to be right for my family and my career as well.
'I want to get back to playing in front of big crowds. That's what everybody wants.'