Ampadu suffered a serious ankle injury in a UEFA Youth League game back in March, by which point he had made seven first team appearances at the age of just 17.

The injury ruled him out for the rest of his maiden campaign with the Blues, but he has been training fully since the start of pre-season and in Australia played an hour as we defeated the Glory 1-0.

‘I owe big, big thanks to all the physios and staff,’ Ampadu said.

‘We had just gone through the quarter-finals of the UEFA Youth League, and I was looking forward to the semi-finals when I got injured. It was disappointing, but you just have to be positive about every situation and think ahead, think about coming back stronger.

‘I lost a lot of muscle on my right leg, so we worked on that, and I felt good out there. I didn’t have any problems with my ankle.

‘They helped me a lot to recover quickly. That gave me the opportunity to get back out there and train in pre-season. It’s been good.’

Alongside Ampadu in Maurizio Sarri’s first starting XI as Chelsea boss was David Luiz, also back in action after a long spell out. The Brazilian calls Ampadu his little brother and it is clear they have a close relationship beyond their distinguishable hairstyles.

‘He’s helped me a lot. Even after the game on Monday he pulled me over and gave me a quick chat about things.