Brighton and Hove Albion defender Tariq Lamptey has disclosed his reason for leaving Chelsea despite the Blues wanting him to stay.

The 20-year-old left Chelsea in January due to the lack of regular football, forcing him to switch to Brighton, where he is a starter and one of the best right-backs in the Premier League.

Lamptey revealed that he had to leave and join a club where first-team football is guaranteed.

"That is the most important thing," he told Skysports.

"The only way you are going to improve is to play matches. I am an ambitious boy, who is always looking for an opportunity to play and make things happen. I am at a very good club in Brighton and I am just really happy that I am beginning to play games," he added.

The English-born Ghanaian who netted his first Premier League goal for Brighton in the defeat to Tottenham over the weekend added that he is enjoying football at the moment.

"I was always with people that I knew, so it was almost comfortable," he continued. "When you move away from that, you have to be prepared for things not to be the same."

"I am enjoying it, to be fair, I like it."