Antonio Conte has promoted Ethan Ampadu, the teenager signed from Exeter City over the summer, to his senior squad for Wednesday’s Carabao Cup third-round tie against Nottingham Forest, with Chelsea set to make a host of changes for the game at Stamford Bridge.
The Premier League champions are expected to field an all-Belgian front line of Eden Hazard, Michy Batshuayi and Charly Musonda, a 20-year-old forward whose previous involvement has been limited to cameos from the bench in the Community Shield and in the opening-day loss against Burnley. Dujon Sterling, a two-times FA Youth Cup winner, may also be in the squad, with Ampadu likely to start among the substitutes.
The versatile defender or defensive midfielder became Exeter’s youngest player at 15 years, 10 months and 26 days in August 2016 and having been offered a scholarship contract at St James Park, had attracted interest from Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City. Chelsea persuaded him to join, despite the fact his father, Kwame, is a coach at Arsenal’s academy, though a compensation fee has yet to be settled with the League Two side. Exeter had hoped to secure £3m for their academy graduate, with a tribunal likely to have to settle the final amount.
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Sterling and Ampadu have trained with Conte’s first-team squad. “Ampadu is a young player but I think he has good quality,” said the Chelsea head coach. “He has good prospects to become a Chelsea player. He’s strong physically, [has] 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. But for sure he has good prospects at Chelsea and will be in the squad [against Forest].”
Ampadu had been capped by England at under-16 level, is eligible to play for Ghana and the Republic of Ireland and has since gained international recognition with Wales, through his mother, in their under-17s and under-19s. He was named in Chris Coleman’s training squad for the senior side’s World Cup qualifier in Serbia last summer. The Exeter manager, Paul Tisdale, revealed at the time that the player was able to join up with the squad only because it was half-term.
Conte denied senior international recognition at such a young age had heaped pressure on the player, who turned 17 last week. “You must be proud of this [achievement],” he said. “But, for sure, he has to work a lot to deserve another call-up to the national team. We must be pleased because this player is a Chelsea player and now it’s important to work very well with him and try and improve his weaknesses. Yes, but he’s a young player. I’m sure he’s a good prospect for Chelsea.”
Hazard will make his first start of the season having recovered from ankle surgery undergone over the summer, with Andreas Christensen and Willy Caballero also expected to feature. Kenedy, whose Chelsea career appeared to be over when he was sent home in disgrace from the pre-season tour of China and Singapore after making a series of inappropriate posts on social media, will start at left wing-back. Chelsea apologised for the player’s posts, with the Football Association subsequently handing Kenedy a formal warning.
However, Chelsea’s inability to secure a new left-sided defender meant Kenedy’s proposed loan move to Newcastle was cancelled, and the player has another opportunity to show he deserves a future at Stamford Bridge. “I think he knows very well what happened in China,” Conte said. “For sure, he made a mistake. But I think that everyone in their life can make a mistake. Now he’s focused, he’s working very well, he understood his mistake. Now he’s ready. He’s ready to play and to show he deserves a space for the future.
“With Musonda we are talking about a really good prospect. Charly, you can see very clearly, his talent. Now it’s important he works very well, trying to adapt himself to this league because this league is not simple. It’s a physical league. He’s a bit thin, but he’s working a lot to improve his strength and to be prepared to make a big impact in this league. I trust Charly, but it’s important he gives a good answer when the chance to play arrives.”
Arsenal’s Welbeck out for weeks
Arsène Wenger says that Danny Welbeck will be out until the middle of October, at least, with the groin injury that forced him off against Chelsea on Sunday. The Arsenal manager and the striker are waiting for the results of a scan to find out a more precise timescale.
Welbeck collapsed in the 73rd minute of the 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge and after the game, Wenger said that the injury did not look to be “an easy one”. But Welbeck, whose time at Arsenal has been blighted by fitness issues, did feel the pain ease a little on Sunday night, which has been interpreted as a positive sign.
Francis Coquelin, who injured a hamstring in the 3-0 home win over Bournemouth on the Saturday before last, is also out until after the upcoming international break – from which the Premier League clubs return on the weekend of 14-15 October.
Wenger said that Calum Chambers, who has had a groin problem, would be involved for the first time this season in the Carabao Cup tie against Doncaster Rovers at Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night. Mesut Özil, who missed the Chelsea game with a slight knee injury, will not feature but he has returned to training.
“Danny has a scan – we don’t know how bad his groin injury is but he will certainly be out until the international break,” Wenger said. “Coquelin as well. Mathieu Debuchy is coming back slowly and he won’t play against Doncaster.
“Mesut is training again but no [he will not feature against Doncaster]. He has a little inflammation of his knee. Chambers will be involved and so will Jack Wilshere. The squad will be a mix – a similar team to the one that played against Cologne [in the Europa League.]”