Chelsea loanee Ethan Ampadu sets unwanted penalty record in the Serie A playing for Spezia
Chelsea loanee Ethan Ampadu, who is currently playing for Serie A side Spezia, has made an unwanted record of giving away the fastest penalty in the history of the Italian top-flight while playing against Lazio (h/t Daily Star).
Just 36 seconds into the match, the Welsh international brought down the former Borussia Dortmund and West Ham United striker Ciro Immobile.
The penalty was missed by the striker but Lazio won the game 4-0 with Ampadu not doing enough to save his team from being tight at the back.
When the 22-year-old moved to Spezia in the summer to get regular game time, he wouldn’t have envisaged a day where he would have a record that cannot be remembered for any good reasons.
With competition for places in central defence already high at Chelsea after the signings of Kalidou Koulibaly and Wesley Fofana in the summer, Ampadu needs to make sure he has a good season in Italy to catch the eye of manager Graham Potter. The player would be hoping not many in the Blues camp would have watched this game though.
The Welshman has played seasons on loan at Sheffield United, Venezia, RB Leipzig and Exeter City before. The last time he stayed at Chelsea for a full season was 2018/19, where he made zero league appearances and five in the cup competitions (FA Cup and Europa League). The last time he made a league appearance for the Blues was in 2017/18.
He is still a young player though, who has shown good promise in different clubs. He is versatile too, having played at right-back and defensive midfield before along with his customary centre-back position.
It remains to be seen whether Potter will give him a chance once he comes back next summer. For now, Ampadu’s focus should be on playing a good season with Spezia and doing well in the World Cup for Wales. These things could well be a basis for him to barge at the door of the Chelsea first-team.
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However, in all honesty, it looks like a long shot that he has a career here now. Nevertheless, players like Jamie Vardy and Rickie Lambert have shown that it is never too late to make it at the top level and that is where Ampadu should draw his inspiration from after a couple of loan spells at, frankly, underwhelming destinations.
