Football Manager 2020: 10 Expected Wonderkids You Must Sign

4. Ethan Ampadu - Chelsea

It feels as if Chelsea’s Ethan Ampadu has been talked about for several years now – mainly because, y’know, he has – but the young Welsh international is still only 18 years of age.

Remarkably, Ampadu made his senior debut for Exeter City at the age of just 15. Playing eight times for the first team, a host of the UK’s biggest clubs battled it out before Chelsea ultimately ended up signing the player.

Strong in the challenge and with an eye for a pass, Ampadu is one of those rare footballers who have the calmness and composure of a veteran despite only being a kid. In real life, the Exeter-born player seems destined to make it to the very top of the football world, and the current transfer ban on Chelsea – not to mention the recent appointment of Frank Lampard – could mean that Ampadu finally gets a proper run in the Stamford Bridge first team during the upcoming season.

Simply put, Ethan Ampadu is the sort of player who you can build a successful FM side around – whether that’s as a ball-playing centre-half or a deep-sitting midfielder.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.