England turned down Wales international Ethan Ampadu for ‘taking too few touches’, says Paul Tisdale
Ampadu made his debut for Wales in a friendly last Novemeber, and effectively committed his future when he represented Ryan Giggs’s side in Sunday’s 2-0 defeat by Denmark
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.England turned down Welsh international Ethan Ampadu for ‘taking too few touches’, according to his fomer manager at Exeter City, Paul Tisdale.
Ampadu made his debut for Wales in a friendly last November, and effectively committed his future when he represented Ryan Giggs’s side in Sunday’s 2-0 defeat by Denmark in the Nations League.
The 17-year-old Chelsea midfielder began his professional career at Exeter aged only 15 under the guidance of Tisdale, and his prodigious talent combined with his eligibility for Republic of Ireland and Ghana as well as Wales and England sparked a race for his international allegiance.
Ampadu, whose mother is Welsh, represented England Under-16s in 2015 while he considered his options, but Tisdale was told England had “12 players better”.
“I phoned England, very relevant people, to say you have to get hold of this chap,” Tisdale told BBC 5 Live.
“I haven’t seen a 14-year-old as good as Ethan, but I was told he takes too few touches. They were looking for players who want to take more touches, but that is his strength, he does things in one touch or two touches and sees things early.
“I was told they had better, 12 players better, and they were aware of Ethan, but I told them he thinks correctly, acts correctly and makes good decisions.”
Ampadu made his Premier League debut for Chelsea last December but has yet to feature this season.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments