Ethan Ampadu has signed a new five-year contract at Chelsea.
The Welshman, who can play in defence or midfield, already has seven Chelsea appearances to his name and is a full international.
Upon signing his new deal, Ampadu, who turned 18 last week, said: ‘I’m really proud and happy. I’m looking forward to the next five years and all I have got to do now is continue to work hard, and hopefully good things will happen.’
Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia added: ‘Ethan has shown great potential and unbelievable maturity since arriving at Chelsea a year ago. In this short time he convinced a lot of people with his exceptional quality and mentality and we look forward to watching him develop into a key player for the club over the coming years.’
Ampadu joined Chelsea from Exeter City in the summer of 2017, and having begun his first season in west London playing for our Academy sides, he made his senior debut in a Carabao Cup third round win against Nottingham Forest at the Bridge. He had only turned 17 a few days earlier.
He then played the whole 90 minutes in the next round of the competition against Everton, and impressed in a deep-lying central midfield position. In doing so, he became the first player born after the turn of the Millennium to start a game for Chelsea.
Ampadu appeared in four more cup games after that in 2017/18, also playing in the Academy sides’ biggest fixtures before a serious injury put an early end to what had been a fantastic first season at Chelsea.
During that first campaign, he also made his first two appearances for the Welsh national team in friendly matches against France and Panama, and recently starred during the Nations League victory over Ireland having enjoyed a promising pre-season with the Blues.