According to The Mirror, Championship promotion contenders Aston Villa and Derby County are set to go head-to-head for Chelsea’s highly rated youngster Ethan Ampadu.
Aston Villa and Derby County are set to return for Chelsea’s Welsh starlet Ethan Ampadu in the January transfer window, The Mirror are reporting.
Both Villa and Derby made moves for the defender in the Summer transfer window, but Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri refused to let him leave. However, despite Sarri blocking any move away, Ampadu only made his first start of the season on Thursday night in a 2-2 draw against MOL Vidi in the Europa League – where Chelsea’s qualification had already been sealed.
The Welshman made a 27 minute cameo off the bench in a 4-0 win versus PAOK Salonika, but other than his two appearances in the Europa League, Ampadu’s football this season has had to come in the Premier League 2.
Both Derby County and Aston Villa have close links to Chelsea and they will be keen to use them to their advantage in January. Chelsea legend John Terry is the assistant manager to Dean Smith at Villa Park and Chelsea youngster Tammy Abraham is enjoying a successful loan spell with Villa.
Chelsea’s all-time top scorer Frank Lampard is the manager of The Rams and two more promising Chelsea youngsters are already at Pride Park. English duo Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori have impressed in their time with Derby County.
It is unknown whether Sarri will be willing to let Ampadu go out on loan in January, but Aston Villa and Derby will have some serious persuading to do if the Italian hasn’t changed his stance on the situation.
