Ethan Ampadu: The man who should replace Jorginho for Chelsea

Ethan Ampadu should be the man to replace Jorginho in Chelsea’s midfield as the Italian continues to struggle to adapt to English football.

Welsh midfielder Ethan Ampadu has been completely left out in the cold by Maurizio Sarri this season, making only five appearances for the first team and none in the Premier League. But with Jorginho struggling to adapt to English football, it might be time for Ampadu to feature in Sarri’s plans.

When Chelsea bought Jorginho from Napoli in the summer for £50 million the expectation among Chelsea fans was that they were getting their own version of Sergio Busquets. The Italian international had thrived under Sarri in Naples for three seasons and had broken virtually every passing record in the Serie A. He was supposed to be the bridge that would help the club leave behind the park the bus football of the past and reach the promised land of Sarriball.

Yet here the club is, 10 months later with a team that has scored far lesser goals than Antonio Conte’s “ultra defensive” side of 2016-17. Champions League is slowly slipping out of reach. And most importantly, the fans have grown disillusioned with the fancy idea of Sarri-ball.

In many ways, Jorginho has been the symbol of Sarri’s reign as Chelsea manager: inconsistent and underwhelming. It is very clear by now that Jorginho is no Busquets. He might be a decent player when given time and space on the ball but those games have been few and far between. Jorginho’s ability to work in tight spaces leaves a lot to be desired and his lack of defensive ability make him a liability in most games.

But that has not stopped Sarri from starting the Brazilian born midfielder in the majority of games. No one else has even been considered for the position other than Jorginho, with Cesc Fabregas sold to AS Monaco, Tiemoue Bakayoko off on loan at AC Milan and Danny Drinkwater not even making the bench most weeks.

But one of the guys who has been forgotten in the midst of all the chaos is 18 year old Welsh midfielder, Ethan Ampadu. Interestingly, Ampadu has made more regular appearances for his national team than Chelsea. Whenever he has been given the chance, he has shown great ability and composure for his age. It seemed like he was destined for the first team on the back of his impressive preseason performances but has found opportunities hard to come by since then.

In fact, Ampadu looks tailor made for the role of regista that Jorginho currently performs in Sarri’s system. Great on the ball with a good passing range and much more capable than Jorginho on the defensive side of things, Ampadu should have been making regular appearances for the first team already. But instead he finds himself out in the cold with hopes of regular first team football faint at best.

Throughout the course of the season, Sarri has shown himself to be a stubborn man and willing to break but not bend. Yet the recent inclusions of Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ruben Loftus-Cheek in the first team setup provides hope for the rest of the fringe players in the squad.

Thursday night’s quarterfinal second leg against Slavia Praha might just provide the chance that Ampadu has been looking for. With the intense end of the season run in coming up and most of the first team players in dire need for rest, Sarri might call upon the likes of Ampadu in a match that seems winnable. And while it might not earn him a regular spot in the first team, a solid performance will certainly not do the Welsh midfielder’s future prospects any harm.