Chelsea’s Ethan Ampadu battling at Venezia to be Chelsea’s Anotnio Rudiger replacement

After taking over the ownership of the club, Roman Abramovich in 2003, Chelsea have won an incredible 21 trophies in all competitions. Only Manchester United can match that number. But even they lack the consistency of the Blues.

For much of the early-Abramovich years, the club were mocked for buying their way to success. It’s a charge that cannot be levelled at the current Champions League holders, with the likes of Mason Mount and Reece James becoming integral components of the first XI.

And – a little further out of sight, but not out of the mind of Thomas Tuchel – there’s another player who could join them in the Chelsea first-team squad in the near future: Ethan Ampadu, the 21-year-old defender who is impressing at Serie A relegation battlers Venezia.

The Italian side, regarded as fashionistas for their eye-catching shirts, were expected to struggle against relegation in their first season back in the top-flight for 19 years.

Promotion was secured in a two-legged play-off with Cittadella and, eschewing the traditional open-top bus parade, the Venice-based side staged a parade of historical boats, rowing clubs, and gondolas on the Grand Canal.

Ampadu suffered relegation with Sheffield United last year before getting sent-off against Italy for Wales at Euro 2020. Some eyebrows were raised when he chose to move to another likely struggler, but the 21-year-old insisted the switch was a pragmatic one.

“I needed to get games this year,” Ampadu said in September. “Hopefully I can do that.

“Serie A is a fantastic league, many top players have played there. It’s a very high level with a lot of very good teams. It’s going to be a great challenge but hopefully I can show what I can do over there.”