Ethan Ampadu says Leeds United have finally provided him with a place he ‘can call home’ after numerous years out on loan from Chelsea.
Ampadu was speaking to BBC Sport on the first international break of the season with Wales, where he was quizzed on his start to life at Leeds.
The 22-year-old finally secured a permanent exit away from Stamford Bridge in the summer after Leeds paid £7 million to secure his services.
Ampadu had spent time on loan at four different clubs, in three different countries since moving to Chelsea, whom he joined from Exeter City in 2017.
While those loan spells have enabled him to rack up a vast amount of games at such a young age, it is only now at Leeds where he has really been able to settle in.
Ampadu says Leeds is somewhere he ‘can call home’
Speaking on his start to life at Elland Road, Ampadu claimed that knowing Leeds is now his permanent home has made it much easier to settle in.
He said: “It’s nice to be somewhere I can call home. I think the way I have integrated into the team has helped that, everyone welcomed me, fans, players. They have made it easy for me to settle in. All those things make it really easy for me to play football.
“Results wise we know we can do better, but performance wise at the start of the season we can be pretty pleased with how we have been playing.”
Ampadu’s performances are certainly reflective of these comments with the midfielder already looking like a cut-above the Championship in his early days at Leeds.
Without trying to compare the two, Ampadu has effectively replaced the void left by Kalvin Phillips in 2022, with his ability both in and out of possession already vital to Daniel Farke’s style.
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