Arteta: Arsenal fan campaign against Madueke transfer was actually a good thing

Mikel Arteta has insisted that the campaign by Arsenal fans against Noni Madueke’s signing has helped inspire the forward to silence any critics with his performances.

Madueke was signed from Chelsea for €56 million in July and the deal infuriated a portion of Arsenal fans who launched a petition called ‘#NOTOMADUEKE’ which gained more than 5,000 signatures.

Supporters had been frustrated after fearing that Arsenal were signing cast-offs from rivals instead of more high-pedigree players, leading to a campaign which attracted widespread attention.

However, Madueke opened his goalscoring account for the club against Bayern Munich this week in his first start after a two-month layoff and Arteta believes that the 23-year-old was unaffected by the criticism.

“If anything, it (social media campaign) gave me more conviction and more will to help him and do everything we possibly could to make this relationship work and to prepare everything around him in the best possible way,” Arteta said.

“I think that (the campaign) lasted a short period of time and immediately we had the complete opposite reaction which I think he valued, respected and it was like fuel to him. It did not affect him.”

Madueke proving Arsenal fans wrong ahead of Chelsea reunion

Madueke was brought in as one of Arsenal’s first signings of a summer where they were linked with stars such as Rodrygo and Eberechi Eze, whom they went on to sign in August.

Fans were unconvinced that Arsenal would move for Eze or a similar level player and would instead rely on Madueke as a key player despite inconsistent performances for Chelsea.

However, the England international impressed in his early appearances for the Gunners before picking up a knee injury in September which he only returned from last week.

Madueke is expected to play a key role for Arsenal this weekend when they travel to his old stomping ground at Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea in a top-of-the-table clash.

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