The epitome of consistency, Ampadu has established himself as arguably Leeds’ best player and one of the best midfielders in the Championship in the first few months of the season. He has mostly been deployed at the base of midfield and become a pivotal player there, but many weren’t sure of what he would be, having also played much of his career as a centre-back, where he has also been forced to feature plenty since the turn of the year.

The Wales international penned a four-year deal at Elland Road, and joined the club for a fee of around £7 million plus add-ons of up to £10 million, per Phil Hay of The Athletic. Chelsea also inserted a sell-on clause in his deal, according to Fabrizio Romano.

The overall deal saw Ampadu leave the Blues permanently after six years at Stamford Bridge, having been in Chelsea’s set up since the age of 16, joining the club from Exeter City in the summer of 2017.

He went on to play just 12 senior games for the club in that time, failing to ever break into the first-team squad on a consistent basis and instead heading out on multiple loan moves. Ampadu had temporary homes at the likes of Bundesliga outfit RB Leipzig, Sheffield United during their recent Premier League stint with Chris Wilder, and then latterly with Serie A sides Venezia and Spezia.

His quality, consistency, and dependability has been key, but Leeds did well to get a hold of him considering the other teams who were interested in his services in the summer. The Athletic’s Phil Hay has reported that two mid-table teams in the top-flight of Italian football were interested in signing Ampadu in the summer.

There was also interest coming from Germany’s top division due to his agency’s good connections with former Liverpool midfielder Didi Hamann, whilst some teams in the Premier League made speculative approaches for the 23-year-old, as per Hay, but the Championship was where the real interest was coming from.

One source told The Athletic that Ampadu would not have been willing to join the club if they had made an approach for him last season, because of their previous owners. But they praised 49ers Enterprises for putting the right people in place to run the club, such as Nick Hammond. The move to Leeds also gave him his first permanent home in some time, and he has certainly got his feet under the table quickly at Elland Road and made West Yorkshire his own.

Ethan Ampadu’s Leeds role

Ampadu’s versatility has been a key part of Leeds’ success. Through the first part of the season, the Welshman was deployed as a holding midfielder, but injuries or a reluctance to turn to fringe centre-back options meant that he needed to drop back into the centre of defence, and, he has performed in both roles to a brilliant standard.

Clearly, Ampadu is young enough to improve, yet has vast experience for his tender age in major European leagues and for his country as well. Ampadu was always likely to operate in midfield for most of the season, which is where the Whites lacked depth at the time of his signing. However, his quality has been such that his performances haven’t differed in a deeper role.

When Leeds signed the Welshman, they had lost Weston McKennie, Adam Forshaw, and Marc Roca from their options in the centre of the park, leaving them with just Tyler Adams, Darko Gyabi, Lewis Bate, Jamie Shackleton, and 17-year-old Archie Gray to plug those gaps who had remained with the club.

They added further to that after Adams left the club, with Ilia Gruev and Glen Kamara coming in, but none have been as dependable as Ampadu. He’s perhaps exceeded expectations as well, and his performances in defensive-midfield, collecting the ball from the centre-backs and goalkeeper and disrupting play, have earned him high praise from the fanbase, where he has quickly become a fan favourite.

It’s no great surprise that he’s slotted in seamlessly, given his vast experience at such a young age. The 23-year-old is one of the most experienced players within his age group at any level, having debuted as a 15-year-old for Exeter City, and has gone on to rack up more appearances than players a little older can boast. Ampadu, who is estimated to be on around £40,000-per-week, has 181 club appearances under his belt, having only turned 23 this season, and also has 51 senior appearances for his country, becoming the youngest player to reach the 50-game milestone and putting him well on course to become the nation’s highest-ever appearance maker.

He’s a Premier League player in waiting, and given his age, there’s also plenty of room to develop and grow further before he hits his peak. Despite many fans being unsure of whether he would be deployed in midfield or the defence, he has proven to be a high-quality, press-resistant defensive midfielder, or a calm and composed central defender.

His performances so far have certainly solidified him as being Leeds’ best player in my mind, and he’s one of a few who are clearly in the running for the club’s Player of the Year award. He’s been a near-perfect signing and played almost every minute of every game so far.

For Wales, he was an unused substitute earlier in the season in a friendly against Gibraltar, and played one half of a clash with South Korea. Those brief rests have been few and far between, but you wouldn’t know that he’d played almost every game given the quality, consistency, and relentlessness of his displays.

Ethan Ampadu’s valuation

Ampadu is arguably the best midfielder in the league. The two names that come to mind as competition for that title are Leicester City’s Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Gabriel Sara of Norwich City. However, neither are as strong in duels, break up play, and instigate attacks from deep as a number-six in the way he can, whilst they are both more attack-minded players, so perhaps the comparison is somewhat unfair.

What is certain is that players such as Ampadu may not always get the plaudits they deserve as they are not likely to score or assist regularly, but the Welshman is a fantastic player in terms of ball-winning, carrying, or distributing it quickly via direct passing into the final third or wide areas. His value has also increased, not just due to his performance levels, but for his ever-growing role. The Welshman has worn the armband on 13 occasions this season, and is becoming one of the key leadership figures within the Elland Road dressing room.

Highlighting that he has the mental strength, the technical quality, and the endurance to be at the top-end of the Championship, whilst being physically combative enough to deal with the rigours of Championship football. He has all the attributes Farke requires in a dominant possession-based side, whilst also capable of being a useful player when Leeds need to win the ball back and transition quickly.

Despite costing Leeds £7 million in the summer, with it fairly likely they will pay £10 million, Ampadu has already seen his value increase, unsurprisingly. Transfermarkt value him at €15 million (£12.8 million), whereas the Football Transfers website has a tool named xTV (expected transfer valuation) which attempts to combine a number of factors and give an overall figure for what a player may be worth.

Things like age, contract length and form give an overall value. The xTV for Ampadu is set at around €22.2 million (£19 million) and their website states that Leeds could expect to receive anything between €16.7 million – €27.8 million for their 23-year-old midfield general. In all honesty, these figures could be viewed as somewhat conservative and Leeds could easily ask for well in excess of £25 million, and have certainly got a bargain from Chelsea on their hands.

At centre-back or in midfield, Ampadu is the heartbeat of Farke’s team and will be a top-flight footballer one way or another next year. However, if Leeds have to sell the ex-Chelsea man, they can expect a serious return on investment for Ampadu.