Chelsea’s Ethan Ampadu is not the answer in defensive midfield yet

Many are wishing Ethan Ampadu had stayed at Chelsea given the need for a defensive midfielder. He can be in the future but currently he isn’t the answer.

It has been pretty obvious that the lack of a defensive midfielder has been holding Chelsea back despite quality and quantity of the new signings. N’Golo Kante can do the job but he cannot play all the time and there is simply only less than ideal options after him.

That is why many felt it was strange that Ethan Ampadu went on loan before the Blues had guaranteed themselves a defensive midfielder. On paper, at least, Ampadu could easily perform the role. Had he stayed at Chelsea, the argument goes, he would have given Chelsea the player they needed without having to spend a dime.

While that may have been true, the most recent Wales match against England showed that the idea may have been premature. Ampadu absolutely can be Chelsea’s defensive midfielder in the future, maybe even as early as next season. This season, however, he was never really an answer to the problem.

Ampadu played as the more defensive of two midfielders against England. That is not a new role for him by any means as he has often played there for his national team. And all of this is not to even say he had a bad game. He had a fine game, but that is also part of the issue; he only had a fine game against England’s B (arguably C) team.

It is at this point worth bringing up that Ampadu is nearly two years removed from consistent playing time, and that is while considering the academy is all that really came before. Maurizio Sarri did not have Ampadu in his very tight knit 14 players with the Welshman playing more for Ryan Giggs than the Italian that season. The RB Leipzig loan was ambitious, but between injuries and Julian Nagelsmann simply preferring other options over some other team’s player, Ampadu had a hard go of things.

Had Ampadu stayed at Chelsea, maybe Frank Lampard would have used him as a defensive midfielder instead of in the current double pivot he is using. Maybe he could have justified N’Golo Kante in the role for most days and the Welshman for when Kante needed a day off. Maybe that could have happened but it is not what Ampadu needed.

Ampadu, after barely playing for so long, needed minutes. Chelsea, at the time, may have assumed their pursuit of Declan Rice would have been fruitful, but even if it was never meant to be for the summer Ampadu still would have needed minutes. The loan to Sheffield United is still too early to render judgement on, but the Welshman has a much better chance of playing there consistently (whether in their back three or in midfield) than he would have at Chelsea this season Rice or not.

Ampadu can use this season to build his case for defensive midfield next season. It is unlikely Chelsea pulls Rice away in January and Ampadu has plenty of time to show the club that his English counterpart is not needed. Ampadu can be the answer to the defensive problem in the future, he just isn’t the answer yet.