Ethan Kwame Colm Raymond Ampadu (born 14 September 2000) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Copp ...

club

Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second largest city ...

, on loan from Chelsea, and the Wales national team. Ampadu previously played for Exeter City, where he became the youngest player to appear for the club's first team, aged 15. He has also played for German club

RB Leipzig RasenBallsport Leipzig e.V. (), commonly known as RB Leipzig, and colloquially referred to as Red Bull Leipzig, is a German professional football club based in Leipzig, Saxony. The club was founded in 2009 by the initiative of the company Red B ...

and English club Sheffield United on loan. Ampadu is a Welsh international footballer. After playing for England at under-16 level, he played for Wales at under-16, under-17 and under-19 level, before making his senior debut for Wales in November 2017. He was part of the Wales squad that reached the round of 16 at

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Euro ...

. He was part of the first Welsh squad to qualify for a

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the ' (FIFA), the ...

since 1958.

Club career

Exeter City

Born in

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal c ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, Ampadu is the son of former professional footballer

Kwame Ampadu Patrick Kwame Ampadu (born 20 December 1970) is an Irish former footballer who played as a midfielder. Ampadu featured for clubs Arsenal, Swansea City, Leyton Orient and Exeter City in his playing career. He is currently an assistant coach for C ...

. A product of the Exeter City youth academy, appearing for the under-18 squad at the age of 14, he made his senior debut – aged – in an

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by th ...

first round match against

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings w ...

St James Park St James Park and variants may refer to: Municipalities * St James Park, New Zealand, a suburb of Hamilton, New Zealand Football stadiums * St James' Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, England * St James Park (Exeter), Exeter, England * St James Park, g ...

on 9 August 2016, playing the full 120 minutes of a 1–0 victory. He became the club's youngest ever player, breaking an 87-year-old record set by

Cliff Bastin Clifford Sydney Bastin (14 March 1912 – 4 December 1991) was an English footballer who played as a winger for Exeter City and Arsenal. He also played for the England national team. Bastin is Arsenal's third-highest goalscorer of all time. C ...

, and being named man of the match. Ampadu's record was beaten by Ben Chrisene in August 2019. A week later, he made his league debut in a 1–0 home defeat against

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team com ...

EFL League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football L ...

Chelsea

Ampadu with Chelsea in 2017 Chelsea players training before 2019 UEFA Europa League final 06 (cropped)

On 1 July 2017, Ampadu signed a contract with

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club Chelsea. The two clubs had entered negotiations over a compensation fee for the player in an attempt to reach a fee that both found acceptable for the then 16-year-old. Yet, in November 2017, Exeter City chairman Julian Tagg said that, whilst there was still a positive relationship between the two clubs, there was also a "massive disparity" in both clubs' valuation of the player. It was set to go to a tribunal. On 20 September 2017, Ampadu made his debut for Chelsea in an EFL Cup third round match against

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

, coming on in the 55th minute for

Cesc Fàbregas Francesc "Cesc" Fàbregas Soler (; ; born 4 May 1987) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Italian Serie B club Como. Fàbregas came through ''La Masia'', Barcelona's youth academy, leaving at 16 wh ...

. Doing so made him the first player born in the 2000s to play for the Chelsea senior team. At 17 years and six days old, he also became the youngest player to debut for the club in over ten years. On 12 December 2017, he made his Premier League debut for Chelsea, coming on as a substitute against

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. ...

in the 80th minute. In September 2018 he signed a new five-year contract with Chelsea. In July 2019, new manager

Frank Lampard Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Everton. He is widely regarded as one of Chelsea’s greatest ever players, and one of the greatest midfiel ...

confirmed that Ampadu would spend the 2019–20 season out on loan at another club. In that period, Ampadu joined

on a season-long loan deal. On 7 September 2020, Ampadu joined fellow

club Sheffield United on a season-long

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

. He played 29 games in all competitions for the Blades, who were relegated. On 31 August 2021, Ampadu joined Italian side,

Venezia Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islan ...

on a season-long loan after signing a new three-year deal with Chelsea. On 1 September 2022, Ampadu joined

on a season-long loan.

International career

Ampadu plays internationally for the

Wales national football team ) , Association = Football Association of Wales (FAW) , Confederation = UEFA (Europe) , Coach = Rob Page , Captain = Gareth Bale , Most caps = Gareth Bale (111) , Top scorer = Gareth Ba ...

. He qualifies for Wales through his Welsh mother. He was previously also eligible to represent England, Republic of Ireland and Ghana. On 26 May 2017, at the age of 16, Ampadu was called into the senior Wales squad ahead of their World Cup qualifier with

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hung ...

. He was called up again on 1 November 2017 for friendlies against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

and

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

, and made his debut aged 17 on 10 November 2017 against France at the

Stade de France The Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the sixth-largest stadium in Europe. The stadium is used by the France national foot ...

, coming on as a 63rd-minute substitute for

Joe Ledley Joseph Christopher Ledley (born 23 January 1987) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. He started his career with then Championship side Cardiff City where he spent six years. He helped the club to the ...

in a 2–0 defeat. In May 2021, Ampadu was selected for the Wales squad for the delayed

tournament. On 20 June, in the 55th-minute of Wales' 1–0 defeat to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, he received a straight

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or dia ...

for a late challenge on

Federico Bernardeschi Federico Bernardeschi (; born 16 February 1994) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for Major League Soccer club Toronto FC and the Italy national team. His nickname is "Brunelleschi", after the ...

, becoming the youngest player to receive one at the European Championships. In November 2022 he was named in the Wales squad for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022; it is the first Wo ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Chelsea *

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

: 2018–19

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ampadu, Ethan 2000 births Living people Sportspeople from Exeter Footballers from Devon Welsh footballers Wales youth international footballers Wales international footballers English footballers England youth international footballers Association football midfielders Exeter City F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players RB Leipzig players Sheffield United F.C. players Venezia F.C. players Spezia Calcio players Premier League players English Football League players Bundesliga players Serie A players UEFA Euro 2020 players 2022 FIFA World Cup players Welsh expatriate footballers Welsh expatriate sportspeople in Germany Welsh expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Italy Black British sportsmen English sportspeople of Ghanaian descent English people of Irish descent English people of Welsh descent British sportspeople of Ghanaian descent Welsh people of Ghanaian descent Welsh people of Irish descent UEFA Europa League winning players