Chelsea’s Ethan Ampadu: “It could have been worse – I’ll be back stronger”
By George Perry
Ethan Ampadu was enjoying a dream debut season with Chelsea FC until he broke his ankle in the UEFA Youth League. His recovery has him on track to pick up where he left off, and the Blues should absolutely not send him elsewhere.
Chelsea did not do anything shady per se in acquiring Ethan Ampadu from Exeter City in League Two. But the Blues should continue sending Exeter City checks, perhaps some loanees and other tokens of their appreciation over the coming years. The tribunal that sets youth player compensation fees (we mustn’t call them transfer fees at that age) determined Chelsea would pay £2.5 million for the Welsh international. Even Chelsea fans have to acknowledge that is closer to “rip off” than “bargain.”
Ampadu finished the 2017/18 season with more minutes than Charly Musonda and Ross Barkley. Had he not suffered a broken ankle in mid-March, he likely would have pipped Kenedy and Emerson and slid in behind Olivier Giroud for minutes played.
Ampadu’s early introduction in the EFL Cup against Nottingham Forest and his regular presence with the first team surprised everyone. Antonio Conte’s trust in Ampadu ran counter to every narrative about Chelsea’s (somewhat true narrative) and Conte’s (false narrative) willingness to blood youth players. Even Ampadu himself did not expect things to go so well, so soon.
"I didn’t think I’d be involved with the matches. I thought, hopefully, if I kick on with the 23s and the18s, and go on to training, and if I do well in training see what happens from there. – Chelsea FC"
Ampadu showed a preternatural (read: freakish) calmness on the pitch, quite similar to Andreas Christensen’s. Like the Dane, Ampadu still has a significant amount of physical development ahead of him, independent of his recovery from the injury. An accumulation of fatigue took a bite out of the second half of Christensen’s season. This was likely a combination of physical and mental factors, and served as a reminder of how young these players are.
Ampadu will not turn 18 until mid-September. Chelsea need to carefully manage his workload and stressors on the first team. If need be, they can let him occassionally play with the youth squads to stay sharp but relaxed.
The World Cup, Chelsea’s managerial fiasco and the usual spurt of transfer rumours have kept Ampadu off the radar screen this summer. While other young players are scrambling for the exit (Harvey St. Clair, Jonathan Panzo) or wondering where they may end up on loan, Ampadu has been able to focus on his rehab work. His absence from the loan rumours hopefully means no such thing is in his future and he can continue his progress with the first team.
"You’ve got to just be there for support when you’re off the pitch. If you get injured it’s not great, but when you miss a couple of months it’s even worse. But it could have been worse, that’s how I’m looking at it, it could have been worse. I knew I was going to be back and I was going to be back stronger."
Chelsea’s season in the Europa League is the perfect opportunity for Ampadu. He should be a regular in that tournament throughout the season, in addition to the domestic cups. He can easily amass 20 starts and 30-35 appearances across all competitions without putting himself at risk of burnout.
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The amount of first-team time on offer at Chelsea negates the need for a loan. Ampadu showed he can handle the three domestic tournaments at the senior level, and all tournaments at the youth level. A loan would only set him back. There should be no hesitation about keeping him with the first-team next season.