Wales star Ethan Ampadu rated among Premier League’s best

In a league overflowing with generational talents, there is one Welsh international who has gone quietly about his business impressing everyone with his consistently excellent performances in the Premier League.

Ethan Ampadu is Leeds’ midfield heartbeat, a player who doesn’t look at all out of place amongst the footballing elite.

Daniel Farke has described his “cornerstone” and captain as one of the Premier League’s best defensive midfielders.

Amapadu, in his third season at Leeds after arriving in a £7million deal plus add-ons from Chelsea in 2023, has been a stand-out for Farke’s side as their survival bid gathers momentum.

Farke, whose side aim to extend their unbeaten run to five matches at Sunderland on Sunday, said: “He’s wearing the captain’s armband, but each month he’s fulfilling this role even better because for a captain he’s still quite young and I’ve always said there’s even more to come.

“But so far I would say he is one of the best midfielders in this league in this defensive role and hopefully he can deliver his quality over the coming weeks and months.”

Wales skipper Ampadu has started in 15 of Leeds’ 17 top-flight matches this season and scored his first league goal for the club in last week’s 4-1 home win against Brentford.

“He is a key player, one of my most important, if not the most important player. Ethan is a cornerstone for us,” Farke added.

“I think it is very important for the balance to be good against the ball, to win many duels, to be aggressive, to sense the danger, to be aware, to have the back line, but on the other hand also, to initiate our attacks and to play the first passes.

“So he has a pretty much a key role and he’s doing fantastic in this, and I think he has grown a lot also over the last couple of years, also in terms of his personality, as he grows more and more into this leader role.”

All of this will of course be music to the ears of his Welsh international manager Craig Bellamy who saw the Leeds captain miss Wales’ stunning 7-1 victory over North Macedonia in Cardiff last month.

At the time Ampadu insisted he should not have received the yellow card that ruled him out of the World Cup qualifier.

Both Ampadu and fellow midfielder Jordan James were suspended for the North Macedonia tie after picking up their second bookings of the competition in the previous match – a 1-0 victory in Liechtenstein.

Ampadu captained Wales in the absence of Aaron Ramsey and Ben Davies in Vaduz, but the Leeds midfielder’s night had a sour ending four minutes from time when cautioned for a foul on Liechtenstein substitute Severin Schlegel.

“I am gutted. If it was a challenge that was a bit reckless or silly I would be frustrated with myself,” Ampadu said at the time.

“It’s annoying because I don’t think it was a yellow. I don’t think I touched the guy and I won the ball.

“To miss the opportunity to represent your country is always hard and I’m really disappointed with that.”

Thankfully the Leeds talisman will have plenty of chances to shine on the biggest stages for both club and country.

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Ethan Ampadu: Defender, midfielder, talisman