'Classy' - Ex-Leeds United ace salutes 'wonderful' Whites move with long-term star hope

Ex-Leeds United midfielder David Prutton has declared his long term hope for Ethan Ampadu and hailed the club’s “wonderful” choice of new club captain.

Wales international midfielder Ampadu joined Leeds from Chelsea last July and the 23-year-old was appointed new club captain this summer upon former skipper Liam Cooper’s contract expiring.

Promotion-winning Whites captain Cooper is expected to seal a deadline week move to Hull City and Prutton says the defender will leave established in club folklore having led the team back to the Premier League under Marcelo Bielsa in June 2020.

Four years on, Leeds are back in the Championship for a second consecutive season but Prutton feels Ampadu has all the attributes to lead the Whites back and can see the 23-year-old holding the position as captain for a long time.

Speaking to the YEP, Prutton was asked whether he felt Ampadu could be the leader that Cooper was and declared: “I do. I'd like to think he will take his cue from the likes of Coops - a wonderful servant to the club.

"Clubs evolve, clubs change, and there's no disgrace in being a player that Leeds United have enjoyed but now deemed surplus to requirements.

"He'll be there in Leeds folklore, and being part of the side that managed to do what so many didn't do, which was get themselves out of the second tier.

"He deserves to have a nice send off and deserves to be in a position in his next port call to kind of choose where he wants to go, but also get out of it what he wants.

"With Ethan, what I've always liked about him is that he's been around forever so we presume that he's older when he's not, but he's got a real nice, mature way about him on and off the pitch. He's a really classy operator.

"I've got a lot of time for him as a footballer. I think he is fantastic. And I have got a lot of time for him, seemingly, from what he looks like as a team mate.

"I think he's a wonderful choice and what you'd like to think from a Leeds United point of view is that it has been given to a man who is experienced, but relatively young because that man's going to do it for quite a long time.

"There can't be many at Leeds that would say 'no, I'm not sure about Ethan'. There'd be a lot that would be very happy with that, and hopefully his career progression mirrors Leeds' progression back into the Premier League."