How Manchester United missed out on Chelsea’s Ethan Ampadu after Sir Alex Ferguson saw him play aged 12

MANCHESTER UNITED blew the chance to sign Chelsea wonder-kid Ethan Ampadu - despite Sir Alex Ferguson spotting him when he was 12.

Ferguson had watched the brilliant Wales ace playing in a junior match for Exeter against a Reds under-13 side and immediately pickled him out as a star of the future.
The Manchester Evening News say Fergie labelled Ampadu, 17, a "proper United player" after seeing him in action in 2013 and instructed the club to sign him up.

But that summer there was a major overhaul at Old Trafford which saw Ferguson and chief executive David Gill leave - and handing over control to Ed Woodward United botched the deal.

That left Ampadu to continue his development at Exeter before Chelsea then swooped in to sign the youngster - causing United to miss out on one of the brightest young talents in the game.
Earlier this year, Exeter's former academy coach Simon Hayward said: "In that visit to Manchester United there was a game going on with his age group, there were trialists from all over Europe.

"Ethan played as a central defender, a central midfielder and a centre forward at different times in the game and, in my opinion, he was the best player on the pitch no matter what position he played in."
Ampadu has made huge strides in his short time at Stamford Bridge and has been kept as part of the first team squad under Maurizio Sarri this season while other youngsters have gone out on loan.

Former Wales boss Chris Coleman handed him his international debut last year, and compared him to former United star Rio Ferdinand.

Last week he made his first competitive start for his country when Ryan Giggs played him in the 4-1 thrashing of Republic of Ireland.

That means he has now been lost to England - even though he qualifies to play for the country.

It emerged this week that the FA were told of Ampadu's talents as a schoolboy, but they passed up bringing him into the system amid suggestions he did not take enough touches on the ball.