Ethan Ampadu taking plenty of positives from season on loan at Venezia

Ethan Ampadu has suffered relegation for the second successive season, following up his stint at Sheffield United in the Premier League last year with Venezia in the Serie A this season. But while his teams have not been great, to put it mildly, he himself has played quite a lot and learned a fair bit along the way.

That’s precisely what he’s taking away from Italy as he prepares for whatever may be next.

“I have learnt a lot. The expectation was to go there and learn a lot which I felt like I did. Overall, even with it being a negative result as a team, which affects me as well, some of the performances I can take positives from. Every loan has its different challenges, but maybe this is the most positive one.

“It is a difficult situation with losing a lot, but we always stayed positive throughout everything and put everything into our performances until the end. [...] At the end of the day [...] it was about learning from that.”

Ampadu played more minutes than all but two players on the team, mostly as a defensive midfielder, but also in defense in the center, or occasionally more towards the right. That sort of versatility is always good to have and can lead to increased involvement.

“As a footballer, you want to play in every game, and as a kid, I loved playing every game. It does help on big occasions [playing week in and week out], but week by week, you want to play football. No one likes to sit and watch it.”

-Ethan Ampadu; source: Football.London

Still only 21, Ampadu has collected nearly 100 senior club appearances and 33 international caps already. He has two years left on his Chelsea contract, and as we undergo a defensive overhaul and maybe one in midfield soon as well, he could yet carve out a role for himself in the first-team. He should at least get the opportunity to do so in preseason.