Arsenal are today linked with 15-year-old record-breaking Exeter City midfielder Ethan Ampadu, according to reports in Goal.
The 15-year-old made a man-of-the-match debut for the Grecians in their 1-0 win over Brentford on Tuesday night.
He also became Exeter side’s youngest-ever player taking Cliff Bastin’s 88-year record who, until 1997, was also Arsenal’s all-time leading goalscorer.
The starlet, regarded by many as one of the most promising talents in England is a defender but prefers playing in the midfield.
A Welsh Under-17 international who is also eligible to play for Ghana, England and Ireland is a star for the future. The fact that he played the full 90 minutes as well as the entirety of extra-time to help Paul Tisdale’s men keep a clean sheet on their way to a 1-0 win against a team from two divisions above would have surely seen several teams sit up and take notice.
Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale in an interview with Express and Echo said:
There is no magic formula for bringing through young players but he has asked the teenager to consider staying in the south west and getting some more competitive first-team football rather than moving on.
One thing we do know is that he’s exceptionally talented.
If – and I hope he does – over the short term, he chooses to spend his early years at Exeter, I think we will give him a fantastic opportunity to develop quickly and not just develop his game technically.
As we know, he’ll be capable of playing at a very high level one day but there’s no substituting the experience and intensity you get from nights like he had on Tuesday.
At the moment he has enormous potential and how things will develop will be down to a number of things.
He’s a very, very good young player with great potential but there’s no one way of doing it and, actually, it’s a bit of a lottery.
He also told BBC Radio Devon that:
The biggest compliment I can give him is that he plays like a 35-year-old,
That’s not normally the English way – we like drama, we like spark. But we don’t often encourage and cultivate subtle, classy players, and he’s one of those.
One factor that is surely likely to work in their favour is the fact that Goal reports that his father, former Arsenal and Exeter midfielder Kwame Ampadu, is an academy coach for the North London outfit.
Many top flight clubs including the likes of Manchester United and Tottenham are looking at him but Arsenal may have an advantage here and let’s see if he chooses a fantastic opportunity to develop himself with Arsenal.
