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Chelsea’s teenage Welsh defender Ethan Ampadu has not joined the club on their pre-season tour of Japan, as he prepares to go on loan for the coming season.
The 18-year old barely featured last season under former boss Maurizio Sarri making just five appearances for the senior team, all in cup competitions, and new Stamford Bridge boss Frank Lampard wants to give him more playing time in the forthcoming campaign, having admitted that he tried to sign him when he was in charge of Derby.
Ampadu is a versatile player who can also play as a defensive midfielder, and Chelsea are carefully considering who best to lend him to in order to maximise his development. Aston Villa have looked at Ampadu before and still have need of reinforcements, and Southampton are also regarded as a potential destination.
However, a move to the Bundesliga may also be on the cards, with the likes of Borussia Mönchengladbach or RB Leipzig, because of the willingness of German clubs to give young talent first-team opportunities.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.