UK Edition
Who is Chelsea 17-year-old Ethan Ampadu, is he the real deal, and why was his transfer so controversial?
There was significant embarrassment among the Chelsea coaching staff that the best player on the pitch was a 16-year-old Exeter City youngster when the Blues visited the League Two club in the Checkatrade Trophy last October.
Chelsea took an Under-21 team packed with some of the hottest young talent in the country, including Mason Mount, Trevoh Chalobah and Fiyako Tomori, to St James Park but it was Ethan Ampadu who stole the show.
Exeter raced into a shock 3-0 lead and managed to hang on for a 3-2 victory, but the night proved to be significant for the slightly built Ampadu, who can play in defence or midfield.
Sources claim it was that game and that particular performance that convinced Chelsea to make a move for Ampadu, even though Arsenal were interested and his father Kwame played for the Gunners and is head coach of the club’s Under-18s.
It is unclear exactly how and why Ampadu did not end up with his father at Arsenal, but Chelsea certainly made the fastest and the strongest move to secure Amapadu’s signature after watching him outplay their own kids.
Chelsea made a formal offer of compensation to Exeter as part of a bid to sign Ampadu in January that was turned down, but the teenager still opted to move to Stamford Bridge during the summer.
He made his first-team debut for Exeter as a 15-year-old in the League Cup last August and played 13 times for the senior side before leaving.
Exeter have been asking for as much as £3million for Ampadu, which Chelsea are not prepared to pay so it seems a tribunal will rule on how much the Grecians receive in compensation.
Despite the fact a compensation package has not yet been agreed, Ampadu this week signed his first professional contract at Chelsea, having turned 17 last week, and is in the squad for the Carabao Cup clash against Nottingham Forest.
Should he play in the game, then Ampadu will become the ninth youngest-ever player to appear for Chelsea’s senior team in a competitive game.
He was included in Chris Coleman’s Wales squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Austria and Moldova last month, having previously been included in a number of training camps.
It is understood that Exeter have asked Wales manager Coleman to support their case for maximum compensation from Chelsea should, as expected, it reach tribunal. Ampadu has already impressed in Chelsea’s Under-23 team this season, deployed in a three-man defence, and has been training with head coach Antonio Conte’s first team squad.
“He is a young player, but I think he has good quality,” said Conte. “He has good prospects to become a Chelsea player. He's strong physically, good technique and personality. Yes, I think we have to continue to work with him and to try and improve him, to bring him to the next step.”