Ethan Ampadu says he was in the ear of good friend Harry Wilson about joining Leeds United over the summer and is sure his Wales colleague has made the “right decision”.
Wilson is Leeds’ first arrival of the summer having joined as a free agent following the end of his contract at Fulham. The attacker had agreed to move to United on deadline day last summer before Fulham pulled out in the dying hours.
Ultimately, Wilson went on to enjoy his best Premier League season to date with 10 goals and seven assists in 36 matches and arrives at Elland Road full of confidence.
He joins a large Welsh contingent at Leeds which includes Ampadu, Joe Rodon and Daniel James, albeit Karl Darlow has left for Manchester United.
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Both Ampadu and Rodon were keen for Wilson to join them at club level and had been pursuing that mission for some time. “Yeah I texted him a couple of times,” grinned Ampadu when speaking to club media during the first day of pre-season on Monday, at which Wilson was present.
“Everyone’s aware that last year there was speculation going around so we [Ampadu and Rodon] were onto him then. This summer - over the course of whenever you’re away with Wales, people speak about how it is at the club.
“Luckily we’re fortunate to just give honest praise about what it’s like being here at Leeds. So those conversations were pretty much similar to telling him what it’s like, how good he would be for us, how good he will be for us. Thankfully he made the right decision.”
Aged 29, Wilson becomes the second-oldest outfield player for Leeds, only younger than Dominic Calvert-Lewin by six days. Rodon says Wilson, who has 69 international caps, has shown a leadership mentality inside the Wales camp and will bring that into the Leeds fold.
The centre-back added: “I’ve known H for a number of years now. I think he’s kind of growing into that leadership role as well, especially with the national team - his maturity with the game.
“Of course everyone has seen he has grown massively as a player on the pitch but off it, I think he has kind of stepped into a leadership role with Ethan with the national team. He will blend in well and bring brilliant experience to the group”
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