Ampadu winning admirers but he’ll stay on Chelsea fast-track
LINCOLN
CHELSEA UNDER 21S lyrical about the 17-year-old with the dreadlocks holding experienced League Two opposition at bay almost singlehandedly
Ampadu is hardly a secret. He was spotted impressing at Exeter, signed last summer and has been been fasttracked into Antonio Conte’s senior squad, making six appearances this term. He also made his debut for Wales in November.
But in many ways, this was his most impressive display for Chelsea as he battled to reach a final at Wembley for the first time.
Chelsea Under-21s struggled to assert themselves but Ampadu kept them in the game with key blocks and tackles.
He showed captaincy qualities, too, as team-mates were encouraged and organised into position.
There has been talk at Chelsea over how Ampadu instantly leapfrogged over a vast array of quality academy players to make it into the first team.
And, on a terrible pitch away from home on a freezing cold night, he showed why.
The scout headed home early to write a glowing report and missed Ampadu’s only blemish, a spot-kick in the penalty shoot-out defeat that hit the post and and went wide. England Under-17 World Cup winner Callum Hudson-Odoi was another to catch the eye.
Chelsea did not give him enough of the ball because Lincoln panicked every time the wide forward ran at them.
It was his trickery which led to Chelsea’s equaliser from Daishawn Redan in the 77th minute, having fallen behind five minutes earlier through Luke Waterfell.
Lincoln deservedly went through to their first Wembley appearance in
133 years 4-2 on penalties, but Chelsea still had a lot to smile about thanks to Ampadu and Hudson-Odoi.