Sir Alex Ferguson knew a prospect when he saw one.
The legendary Manchester United manager had an eye for talent like few others and while there were a couple of missteps in the transfer market down the years, Ferguson also managed to identify some future superstars from just a fleeting glimpse at them as youngsters.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney have both already gone down as United legends after signing for the club as teenagers and Ferguson continued to try to keep the conveyor belt of promising youngsters ticking over right up to his retirement.
Before Fergie retired in 2013, the Scot urged United to sign up Ethan Ampadu, who was 12 at the time, from Exeter City.
Ampadu was described as a ‘proper United player’ according to a report in Manchester Evening News and then-chief executive David Gill was instructed to bring him to the club’s youth set-up.
But in the messy shifting of power from Ferguson and Gill to David Moyes and Ed Woodward, Ampadu slipped through the cracks.
Chelsea eventually recognised Ampadu’s potential and signed him to a contract last year.
Earlier this week, Ampadu’s former manager at Exeter, Paul Tisdale, revealed the bizarre reason that the versatile youngster was turned down by England.
“I phoned England, very relevant people, to say you have to get hold of this chap,” Tisdale told BBC 5 Live.
“I haven’t seen a 14-year-old as good as Ethan, but I was told he takes too few touches. They were looking for players who want to take more touches, but that is his strength, he does things in one touch or two touches and sees things early.
“I was told they had better, 12 players better, and they were aware of Ethan, but I told them he thinks correctly, acts correctly and makes good decisions.”
Ampadu has since gone on to pledge his international future to Wales and came up with a man-of-the-match performance against the Republic of Ireland last week.
After the match, the 17-year-old was showered with praise by Wales manager and United legend, Ryan Giggs.
“Ethan is a talent, not only as a player, but as a person. He is so measured and mature and takes it all in his stride,” Giggs said.
“He’ll be a magnificent player. I am really pleased for him.”
