What Liam Cooper said about 23-year-old Leeds teammate in pre-season is now proving absolutely correct

Add as preferred source on Google

Leeds United made Ethan Ampadu their first signing of the San Francisco 49ers Enterprises era in the summer.

Ampadu arrived from Chelsea in an initial £7 million deal as Leeds got to work on rebuilding their squad following last season’s relegation from the Premier League.

Of Leeds’ nine summer signings, only he and Sam Byram were brought in, in time to enjoy some sort of a pre-season under Daniel Farke, though the latter was only initially at the club on a trial basis.

Almost instantly in Ampadu’s first pre-season outing for Leeds, you could see what he would be bringing to Elland Road. A sitting midfielder with terrific quality both in and out of possession.

Club captain Liam Cooper was able to spot that straight away, speaking in an interview with Leeds Live just before Leeds’ Championship opener with Cardiff City about just good Ampadu is.

Cooper said Ampadu would be a ‘brilliant’ signing for Leeds

Cooper was full of praise for the experience Ampadu already has at such a young age, and how he is able to bring the best out of those around him.

He said: “He’s been brilliant. His experience, the experience he brings, the amount of games he’s played at club level and international level, at such a young age, is brilliant for us.

“He makes everybody else better, he makes everybody else calmer and [in] his first two weeks, I can’t say enough about him.”

That early verdict from Cooper could not have proved to be any more correct, with Ampadu having arguably been Leeds’ player of the season so far.

Despite being just 23, Ampadu is already a leader for this squad when he is out on the pitch, and his addition to the side has made Leeds’ spine much stronger.

He is still at the age where he can get better and better which just highlights what a snip he was at only £7 million.