He is in Exeter, England, Ethan Ampadu has been an Chelsea player since the year 2017 when the club acquired him from Exeter City at the age of 16 for a sum of 2.8 millions of euros. Ampadu has made only 12 games for Chelsea since his arrival. He was a member of the Cheslea F.C loan team and also played in the clubs of R.B Leipzig, Sheffield United and Venezia.
His time on loan in RB Leipzig wasn’t much of success, as he was able to appear in just three Bundesliga games and played in none. This time with the German club was made worse when he suffered back pain in late February. He was forced to not play for the rest of the season. This was postponed until June because of Coronavirus, a pandemic.
Things went well for him next season when he was signed by Chris Wilder’s Sheffield United. He was a part of the 25 Premier League games and started in 6 of the 8 world cup qualifying matches for Wales. Even though Sheffield United got relegated, Ampadu gained invaluable experience in the Prem known as the toughest and physical football league within Europe.
After having played in 3 games during the Euros’21 for Wales and missing the fourth because of suspensions, Ampadu joined the newly elevated Italian Serie A club, Venezia. There was plenty of game time through Italy where he played for 30 Serie A games including 26 starts.
Chelsea were unable to compete during the last season because of the sanctions enforced on the club by the UK government. The restrictions led to the exile of a defensive player in Thomas Tuchel’s team. Antonio Rudiger joining Real Madrid via a free transfer while Andreas Christensen moved to Barcelona for free.
Ampadu is caught in a bind:
Ethan Ampadu stay at Chelsea and be a contender for a spot, or move to another club on loan following RB Leipzig, Sheffield United or Venezia as he tries to get regular playing time prior to Wales their debut World Cup since 1958. Let’s examine the factors that make Ethan Ampadu an intriguing prospect at just 21 years old and why he may be vital to Wales in their hopes of being out of the group B.
In taking data from the last two seasons
Ampadu has displayed his incredible versatility in playing various positions on the field. The most prominent of these is in the middle back position which is followed by the central midfield and defensive midfield. The time he spent at Venezia also was a time when he played as a right defender on two occasions, and also as a right midfielder in one occasion.
In the 25 games that he played in as a centre-back, 21 of them were played in Bramall Lane. However the majority of his games in Venezia was in the DM position, with the number. of games being 16.
This versatility could be hugely beneficial to Thomas Tuchel, who has an older Thiago Silva in the middle of his defense but has no defensive midfielder of the traditional type to choose from. Ampadu might be a great alternative to Silva and is also an alternative in the case of Thomas Tuchel if he wants to try 4 at the back, with the addition of a DM and two eights.
