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Noni Madueke stakes his claim to a starting spot at Chelsea

Noni Madueke stakes his claim to a starting spot at Chelsea

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Chelsea have spent over £400million on attacking players in the past three summer windows. 

By Sam McGuire

There has been a scattergun approach to recruitment at Stamford Bridge. They don’t necessarily look at squad needs but instead look at how they can improve the quality of their squad. It is a risky approach but the reward is great. It allowed them to bring in Cole Palmer for just £40million. He was signed when the Blues were stacked in offensive areas. 

One of the reasons the move for the Manchester City youngster resulted in a few raised eyebrows was because Chelsea already possessed a highly-rated left-footed right-winger in Noni Madueke. 

However, whereas Palmer excelled and made himself a key player for the Blues, winning the Young Player of the Year award, Madueke was relegated to a bit part role last term. He finished the season with a little over 1,000 minutes in the Premier League and though his return of five goals and two assists was decent, he wasn’t able to make the impression he would’ve liked.

Madueke season summary, 2023/24

There was even talk that he could be sacrificed this summer. 

His departure would help balance the books at Stamford Bridge after yet another transfer window of big spending while also allowing the player to claim first-team football elsewhere. It was a potential win-win for the club and the player. 

After Chelsea tried and failed to sign Michael Olise from Crystal Palace, there was talk that Madueke could be on the move. Newcastle United reportedly wanted to bring him to St James’ Park and the rumoured £40million fee didn’t deter them. However, a move never materialised. 

Enzo Maresca added to his ranks this summer with Portuguese duo Pedro Neto and João Félix making the move to Stamford Bridge. And Madueke had to settle for a place on the bench during Chelsea’s opening game of the season against Manchester City with the former Leicester City boss opting to use Palmer on the right and Christopher Nkunku on the left. 

The new Chelsea boss switched things up for the game against Wolves on Sunday, naming Madueke on the right and Mykhailo Mudryk on the left with Palmer playing as an attacking midfielder behind Nicolas Jackson. 

Mudryk struggled but the other three thrived at Molineux. 

Jackson scored the opener, Palmer nonchalantly lobbed José Sá for the second goal before the Chelsea No. 20 assisted Madueke on three occasions during a 14-minute blitz in the second half. 

The 22-year-old now has four goals in his last two appearances for the Blues having come off of the bench in mid-week to score against Servette. 

Maresca heaped praise on the Chelsea No. 11 following the 6-2 mauling of Wolves. 

“I can judge Noni’s performance, which was fantastic. Not only second half, even first half the first 10 or 15 minutes he was always one-v-one creating something. 

“Since day one I said he’s the kind of winger I really like. He is working very good with us, but the best thing today from Noni was not the hat-trick, it was the way he defended for 90 minutes the counter-attacks. ‘That showed the right mentality I am asking from the players. It was for Noni, and it was for Christopher Nkunku who played five minutes. João Félix was the same. If we want to build something, first of all you need the right mentality, and from all of them it was very good.” 

Madueke, a £28million signing from PSV Eindhoven in January 2023, could prove to be a key cog in the Maresca system this season. The potential is there for him to claim minutes from big-money signings. 

As the Chelsea boss states, the England under-21 international is the kind of winger he likes. 

During his sole season with Leicester City, Maresca had Abdul Fatawa and Stephy Mavididi as his wide forwards. And the pair share similarities with Madueke. Both are extremely direct in their play, they are great in one-on-one situations and they are influential in the final third. 

Fatawu, for example, finished the 2023/24 season in the Championship with an Expected Assists average of 0.34 while creating 2.1 chances per 90. He had an Expected Goals average of 0.15 and completed almost three dribbles per 90 with a success rate of 54%. 

Mavididi had an xG90 of 0.23 for the Foxes and an xA90 of 0.22 from the 1.8 chances per 90 he was carving out. He wasn’t as successful as Fatawu with dribbles, completing just 38% but he was averaging almost two completed ones on a per 90 basis. 

Palmer was a breakout star for the Blues under Mauricio Pochettino. There are signs that Madueke could be the one to emerge under Maresca. If the Italian tactician can blend the pair of them and get the best out of the duo, Chelsea could be a dark horse for a top-four finish. 

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Premier League on FotMob – with in-depth stat coverage including xG, shot maps, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Noni Madueke stakes his claim to a starting spot at Chelsea

Chelsea have spent over £400million on attacking players in the past three summer windows. 

By Sam McGuire

There has been a scattergun approach to recruitment at Stamford Bridge. They don’t necessarily look at squad needs but instead look at how they can improve the quality of their squad. It is a risky approach but the reward is great. It allowed them to bring in Cole Palmer for just £40million. He was signed when the Blues were stacked in offensive areas. 

One of the reasons the move for the Manchester City youngster resulted in a few raised eyebrows was because Chelsea already possessed a highly-rated left-footed right-winger in Noni Madueke. 

However, whereas Palmer excelled and made himself a key player for the Blues, winning the Young Player of the Year award, Madueke was relegated to a bit part role last term. He finished the season with a little over 1,000 minutes in the Premier League and though his return of five goals and two assists was decent, he wasn’t able to make the impression he would’ve liked.

Madueke season summary, 2023/24

There was even talk that he could be sacrificed this summer. 

His departure would help balance the books at Stamford Bridge after yet another transfer window of big spending while also allowing the player to claim first-team football elsewhere. It was a potential win-win for the club and the player. 

After Chelsea tried and failed to sign Michael Olise from Crystal Palace, there was talk that Madueke could be on the move. Newcastle United reportedly wanted to bring him to St James’ Park and the rumoured £40million fee didn’t deter them. However, a move never materialised. 

Enzo Maresca added to his ranks this summer with Portuguese duo Pedro Neto and João Félix making the move to Stamford Bridge. And Madueke had to settle for a place on the bench during Chelsea’s opening game of the season against Manchester City with the former Leicester City boss opting to use Palmer on the right and Christopher Nkunku on the left. 

The new Chelsea boss switched things up for the game against Wolves on Sunday, naming Madueke on the right and Mykhailo Mudryk on the left with Palmer playing as an attacking midfielder behind Nicolas Jackson. 

Mudryk struggled but the other three thrived at Molineux. 

Jackson scored the opener, Palmer nonchalantly lobbed José Sá for the second goal before the Chelsea No. 20 assisted Madueke on three occasions during a 14-minute blitz in the second half. 

The 22-year-old now has four goals in his last two appearances for the Blues having come off of the bench in mid-week to score against Servette. 

Maresca heaped praise on the Chelsea No. 11 following the 6-2 mauling of Wolves. 

“I can judge Noni’s performance, which was fantastic. Not only second half, even first half the first 10 or 15 minutes he was always one-v-one creating something. 

“Since day one I said he’s the kind of winger I really like. He is working very good with us, but the best thing today from Noni was not the hat-trick, it was the way he defended for 90 minutes the counter-attacks. ‘That showed the right mentality I am asking from the players. It was for Noni, and it was for Christopher Nkunku who played five minutes. João Félix was the same. If we want to build something, first of all you need the right mentality, and from all of them it was very good.” 

Madueke, a £28million signing from PSV Eindhoven in January 2023, could prove to be a key cog in the Maresca system this season. The potential is there for him to claim minutes from big-money signings. 

As the Chelsea boss states, the England under-21 international is the kind of winger he likes. 

During his sole season with Leicester City, Maresca had Abdul Fatawa and Stephy Mavididi as his wide forwards. And the pair share similarities with Madueke. Both are extremely direct in their play, they are great in one-on-one situations and they are influential in the final third. 

Fatawu, for example, finished the 2023/24 season in the Championship with an Expected Assists average of 0.34 while creating 2.1 chances per 90. He had an Expected Goals average of 0.15 and completed almost three dribbles per 90 with a success rate of 54%. 

Mavididi had an xG90 of 0.23 for the Foxes and an xA90 of 0.22 from the 1.8 chances per 90 he was carving out. He wasn’t as successful as Fatawu with dribbles, completing just 38% but he was averaging almost two completed ones on a per 90 basis. 

Palmer was a breakout star for the Blues under Mauricio Pochettino. There are signs that Madueke could be the one to emerge under Maresca. If the Italian tactician can blend the pair of them and get the best out of the duo, Chelsea could be a dark horse for a top-four finish. 

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Premier League on FotMob – with in-depth stat coverage including xG, shot maps, and player ratings. Download the free app here.