Leeds United have five Welshmen on their books, with Craig Bellamy singling one out for particular praise ahead of England and Belgium international matches.
Leeds United are a football club with a long history of Welsh players, including John Charles as by far the most famous. However, there are more now contracted to Leeds than at any other stage in the club’s history.
There have been 14 Welsh players to feature for Leeds since the year 2000, but seven of them came between 2000 and 2016, while the other seven came from 2018 onwards.
Tyler Roberts has moved on and Connor Roberts has returned from his loan at Burnley. Charlie Crew may well be on loan at Doncaster Rovers, but Dan James, Karl Darlow, Joe Rodon, and Ethan Ampadu are current Leeds players.
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Craig Bellamy warns England with Ethan Ampadu returning
Ampadu and Rodon were players for Leeds to build around this season, and Tyler Roberts loved Ampadu’s performance against Everton.
It’s why the period for Leeds without Ao Tanaka and Ampadu was such a concern as Ampadu has had an injury for Leeds already this season.
It meant Rodon and Ampadu were missing for Wales during the last international break, with Craig Bellamy explaining that he is excited to be working with both players again this time around.
On Ampadu, Wales boss Bellamy explained his feelings in his squad announcement press conference, stating: “His leadership skills, for someone so young, is beyond impressive.
“But he’s just a talented player and has the — I know you hear me like broken record — but he definitely has the profile I like in a six.
“And, also, the big part of this as well is we need depth in that area. So, when Ethan is out, you have to have that depth. Now, we’ve been able to expose that as well in being able to give players the opportunity.
“Because we haven’t had Ethan. But, for me, it’s such a key area of the pitch for how we play. And Ethan is a top level performer in that area. So, hopefully, everything comes off and he’s able to meet up with us Sunday.
“Because, these two games, with the intensity that’s going to come, the angles we’re going to need to create, the speed that we’re going to have to create those angles at, he is definitely a player that is able to do that.”
Both Ampadu and Rodon are among Daniel Farke’s best Leeds signings and Bellamy explained he wanted to sign Rodon for Burnley during the same press conference as well.
Ampadu’s has only lost one of his last 28 league games for Leeds
Ampadu is on an incredible run of form for Leeds. The 1-0 win over Everton was the 25th consecutive league game without losing for Ampadu, which was a record by a player outside of the Don Revie era.
That ended away to Fulham in the 94th minute. However, having lost to Fulham, Ampadu was back to his best against Wolves. The draw with Bournemouth now means he has lost one of the last 28 league games.
Ampadu’s record for wins as Leeds captain is also incredible. When Ampadu plays, Leeds tend to win. Not only is he a quality player and leader, but other intangibles like organisation are vital with the Welshman as well.
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