Leeds United man hailed in 'excellent' Man of the Match display as fans make jackpot analysis

Ampadu’s Wales side secured a 2-0 victory in Riga on Monday evening, concluding their fixture schedule during September’s international break.

It keeps the Welsh team within touching distance of the qualification places for next year’s European Championships in Germany, trailing fellow Group D participants Croatia and Turkey by three points.

With matches against both countries in the months to come, Wales know they will need to be at their best to turn the tide on what has so far been a disappointing qualification campaign.

Their chances will be boosted quite considerably by the availability of top performer Ampadu, who has played a prominent role for club and country since the beginning of the 2023/24 campaign.

In Riga on Monday night, the 22-year-old was applauded for his ‘dominant’ display at the base of midfield, described by WalesOnline as the star man.

"One half of an impressive deep midfield duo. Notable how progressive he was with his distribution, feeding [Aaron] Ramsey, [Harry] Wilson [Brennan] and Johnson in particular with accuracy and ease. Sent Johnson through with a fantastic pass early on. Defensively excellent, too.”

Leeds supporters took to social media to express their satisfaction at having signed the 46-cap international earlier this summer.

"We really hit the jackpot with Ampadu didn’t we”, @thomas_wilson95 posted on Twitter, meanwhile leading youth football resource Scouted Football shared their thoughts, too.

"At 23 years old, Ethan Ampadu already has 45 senior caps for Cymru and only this season has he settled into his best role in a competitive club side. It's difficult to overstate how important he will be to the future of Welsh football. Captain and the caps record on the cards.”

Ampadu admits he is pleased to have settled into life at Leeds and feels welcomed at Elland Road. Speaking ahead of this month’s international fixtures with South Korea and Latvia, the midfielder said: “It’s nice just to be somewhere, call it home. I think the way I’ve integrated into the [Leeds] team has also been helpful for that. Everyone’s welcomed me; fans, players, they’ve made it easy for me to settle in, which I think all of those things make it easy for me to play football.”

Leeds return to Championship action this weekend away to Millwall. Kick-off is at 12pm on Sunday, 17 September.