Brighton & Hove Albion technical director Dan Ashworth has opened up on the signing of Tariq Lamptey from Chelsea earlier this year.
Ashworth hinted that they grabbed the opportunity to sign the English-born Ghanaian defender with open arms after he was overshadowed by another youngster at Stamford Bridge
“His pathway was blocked by a super, young player in Reece James who was in his position at Chelsea,” Ashworth told the Brighton & Hive, Independent.
“Tariq thought he might need to look to play his football somewhere else. We were lucky enough to take advantage of that and give him an opportunity to play.
“You can only play 11 people at a time, you can only give a pathway to a certain amount of people at a time and keep a certain amount happy.
“This happens on a regular basis at all clubs, it just so happened that we had an opportunity where a couple of our right-backs were coming to the end of their contracts.
“[Ezequiel] Schelotto was out of contract and [Martin] Montoya was leaving.
“We had a space coming up and maybe we had a chance to give Tariq some games and exposure and he has taken it with both hands.
“You don’t quite know what you have got with a young player until you chuck them in and give them a go.”
Lamptey 20, has risen to become one of the key players in Graham Potters side and was linked to a 30 Million Euros move to Bayern Munich last summer.
