Profile of Tariq Lamptey: The young defender caught between playing for Ghana or England

Born on the 30th of September 2000 in Hillingdon, London, Tariq Nii-Lante Lamptey was birthed by a Ghanaian family who relocated to London.

Despite not being born into a wealthy family, Tariq’s father, Ahmed Lamptey did his best to ensure the player had all he needed to become a professional player.

In 2008, when Tariq was just eight-years-old he was enrolled into Chelsea FC’s junior wing to nurture his talent as a footballer. It didn’t take long for him to make an impression in the club as he moved up the academy ranks very quickly and he thrived in most games he featured in.

The right-back quickly shot to fame when he helped the Blues win the U-18 Premier League and had 11 assists in the 2017/2018 season.

The player was rewarded with his first professional contract by Chelsea after his talent was heavily recognized by his coaches.

Ahmed Lamptey, the father of the player was reported to have contacted members of the Ghana Football Association to allow his son to play for Ghana’s U17 team but the move was never relished as the player was snubbed despite authorities taking a sum of money from Mr Lamptey.

Tariq made his debut for the Chelsea senior team under Frank Lampard in the 2019/2020 English Premier League season in a London Derby against Arsenal.
Having earned a place in the senior team, the young defender made two appearances for Chelsea in the Emirates FA Cup before being transferred to Brighton and Hove Albion.

Shortly before his move away from Stamford Bridge, officials of the Ghana Football Association and former Black Stars’ coach, Charles Akonnor, travelled to London on two occasions to meet with Tariq’s father but efforts to get the player to play for Ghana proved futile as Ahmed Lamptey refused to meet the entourage from the GFA.

Weeks later, Lamptey made his England U21 debut starting in a 2–1 away victory over Austria U21 in a 2021 European Championship.

Lamptey arrived at Brighton and Hove Albion after signing a deal to keep him with the Seagulls until 2023.

In June 2020, the 21-year-old made his Seagulls debut, winning Man of the Match against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.

Albion’s 2019/20 Premier League campaign ended with Tariq making eight league appearances.

The young prospect had a frustrating start to the ongoing 2020/21 season as he suffered an injury that kept him out of 7 matches.
On his return from injury, the player was handed a new contract that would see him at the club till 2025.

Since his return, the pacey right-back has made 23-appearance and has contributed 2 goals to Seagulls’ campaign in the league.

England’s head coach, Gareth Southgate is said to be interested in handing the 21-year-old an opportunity to feature for the Three Lions to block any chance of him switching nationalities to play for another country.

Meanwhile, Ghana’s current technical team led by coach Otto Addo along with his deputy George Boateng of Aston Villa and technical advisor Chris Hughton are said to have approached the player in recent times to convince him to play for the Black Stars.

With the Black Stars having qualified to play at the 2022 World Cup, the Black Stars are looking forward to have the right-back in their defence for the tournament in Qatar.