ETHAN AMPADU has no idea whether he figures in Chelsea’s plans under Thomas Tuchel next season.
The Blues midfielder is on a season-long loan with Venezia in Italy and impressed with an assist in the 3-2 win over Jose Mourinho’s Roma last Sunday.
But Ampadu, 21, on Wales duty ahead of Saturday’s World Cup qualifier against Belarus, said: “They’re always watching the games and giving you feedback. Someone has even managed to come out and watch a game.
“You still get all the feedback because at the end of the day you’re still a Chelsea player even though my focus is on Venice.
“Everyone wants you to develop and be a better player so you have that help as well.
“My focus is on doing as well as I can with Venezia and seeing where that takes me this summer.”
So where will he be next season then?
Ampadu, who has also had loan spells at Leipzig and Sheffield United, added: “I’m not too sure yet. Obviously I want to be the best I can be after this loan wherever that is.
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“But you can’t get to that point without focusing on the present.”
Ampadu also received a controversial red card for a tackle on Franck Ribery in Venezia’s Serie A clash against Salernitana on October 26.
He said: “I don’t know what I learned from that – maybe that you can get a red card for anything?
“I am learning how to deal with different situations. I could have prevented that situation and maybe not got a red card. He’s sharp and can cause you a problem.
“It’s a weird one, most people didn’t think it was a red, but at the end of the day it was a red card and you have to get on with it.”
Ampadu is one of eight Wales stars a yellow card away from a suspension ahead of Tuesday’s crunch home clash with Belgium
He has a poor disciplinary record with four yellow cards and a red in ten matches for club and country this season while he was also sent off against Italy at the Euros last summer.
Ampadu added: “I seem to have picked up a few yellow cards, even in Italy, so I try not to think about it. If you go into a game thinking about a yellow card, you might not make a tackle and that might end up leading to a goal.
“So you just have to play the game as it is. I always seem to get yellow cards at the moment so hopefully I don’t get one on Saturday.”
Ampadu says he is in awe of Gareth Bale – but has set a long-term target of surpassing him to become Wales’ most capped player.
Bale is set to win his 100th cap in tomorrow’s clash in Cardiff and join all-time highest appearance holder Chris Gunter as the second member of the male centurion club.
Dragons team-mate Ampadu has raced to 30 international matches at the age of 21 – a year faster than both Bale and 106-cap Gunter.
Ampadu said: ”It’s everyone’s target, Everyone wants to have the most something so it’s definitely a target.
“That’s probably the only thing I’ve got over them. It’s weird to say I’ve had 30 caps. I’ve got a very long way to go before reaching what they’ve done. We all understand how hard it is to get to.”
Ampadu first met Bale when he trained with Chris Coleman’s Wales before Euro 2016 as a 15-year-old.
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He added: “It was the pre-training camp before they went off and made history at the Euros in 2016. He’d done great things at Tottenham and Real Madrid so I’d been watching him week in, week out.
“To meet him, you’re in awe at first and, when you get to know him, he’s just a normal guy. He helps out with the youngsters. He wants the best for Wales and we all do. He’s an easy guy to talk to.
“You always are (starstruck) because he’s achieved so much but he’s not a guy you can’t speak to. He gives that impression to everyone, so that’s good.”
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