One Leeds United player has been praised for his international display this week as Daniel Farke now prepares his side to take on Millwall this weekend.
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The Whites, under new owners the 49ers Enterprises and manager Farke have endured a busy few months both on and off the pitch, with a number of new players coming in and plenty heading the other way. In total, Leeds brought in nine players and saw 15 depart, with a mixture of loan deals and permanent transfers.
On the pitch, the club have only managed to win one of their opening five Championship fixtures, while also being dumped out of the Carabao Cup to League Two side Salford City.
One player who has been a regular so far this season is Ethan Ampadu. The 22-year-old was the club’s first summer signing from Chelsea and has played in every minute of action in all competitions.
The versatile midfielder represented Wales during the international break, and prior to any action, said he feels settled in Yorkshire.
“I’m enjoying being settled. I gave my all in each of the loans and I was focused on developing and becoming a better player.
“But maybe in the back of your mind when you know you are settled somewhere and you’re not on loan, there are little things you can improve on.
“If you are playing in one position, you can work on the finer little details within that position to take you to the next level. “If you’d asked me this last year, I probably would have said centre-back because that’s where I was playing.
“But that was before I joined Leeds and hearing what Farke wants me to play like, his style of play, that’s what attracted me and the reason I went there so I’m enjoying the role I’m playing.
“And with the history of the club, we know on the outside where everyone wants us to be.
“You feel the history and the pressure of the club but it’s exciting knowing what you can achieve. “Everyone wants to achieve promotion and win things.”
Ampadu featured against South Korea in a friendly and then again vs Latvia in a Euro 2024 qualifier on Monday, with the latter performance catching the eye in the media. Wales Online gave the Leeds man a 9/10 “star man” rating, saying:
“One half of an impressive deep midfield duo. Notable how progressive he was with his distribution, feeding Ramsey, Wilson and Johnson in particular with accuracy and ease. Sent Johnson through with a fantastic pass early on. Defensively excellent, too.”
Meanwhile, reporter Phil Blanche called Ampadu “superb” and podcast contributor Jordan Webber labelled his partnership in midfield with Jordan James as “the future”.
How good is Ethan Ampadu?
Ampadu certainly caught the eye in the last 48 hours for his display, with LUFCDATA picking out some impressive statistics from his performance.
He made more ball recoveries (11) than any other player involved, while no player completed more accurate long passes (5) or made more interceptions.
At club level, Ampadu has so far ranked highly for tackles, clearances and passes per 90, as per WhoScored, and with new competition for places in midfield signings Glen Kamara and Ilia Gruev, it’ll be interesting to see if Ampadu continues to lay every minute under Farke.
