As Frank Lampard’s Chelsea revolution continues, there’s one player who is no longer part of it, but who is making a name for himself elsewhere.
In fact, Tariq Lamptey has really hit the ground running at Brighton and Hove Albion.
The 20-year-old joined the Seagulls back in January and hasn’t really looked back, though it was a difficult decision for him, given that he’d been at the Blues since he was nine years of age.
“I’m an ambitious boy. I look at things and enjoy them in the moment, but the next day I’m looking to see what I need to improve on and how I can stay at that level,” he told 90min, cited by the Daily Mirror.
“I’m always looking for a chance to play again, and that moment made me even more hungry. I’d had a taste of it and I wasn’t going to let it go.
“I sat down with the coaches, family members and agents and thought about what’s best for me. It was a really tough decision.
“Being at a club since the age of nine, going up through the whole system and making your first-team debut, everything happened so quickly.
“But I had to look at where I would get the most football and how I could take my game to the next level.
“It wasn’t an easy decision. I thought about it every day. But the opportunity came for me to come to Brighton, which is a fantastic club with a really good plan for the team, and the move made a lot of sense.
“There was quite a few options to go to, but I sat down with my family and talked about where would be best for me, where could help me develop, and I thought Brighton would be the best club for me.”
Given that he could’ve stayed at the club and dug his heels in, it’s a refreshing change that he was willing to take a risk that was hopefully for the long-term betterment of his career.
An important member of the south coast side, if Lamptey continues in the same vain, he will surely help drive Brighton forward and cement their place in the English top flight.