‘Exceptional’ Madueke SILENCES Arsenal fans who protested his transfer

Noni Madueke has left the minority of Arsenal fans who protested his arrival from Chelsea with egg on their face.

The England international joined the Gunners in an eyebrow-raising €56 million deal from Chelsea earlier this summer, leaving the Blues right before they played the Club World Cup final.

At the time, Arsenal’s decision to bring in Madueke faced quite a bit of criticism. Supporters felt that their club had overpaid for a player who initially seemed to be a mere backup.

There were concerns that Madueke could take minutes away from Ethan Nwaneri, while others took exception to suggestions that he could start as a left-winger. Considering that Arsenal were linked with the likes of Rodrygo and Eberechi Eze at the time, this would have been an underwhelming solution.

Arsenal’s lack of success when it came to signing players from rivals Chelsea also played its part. All of these factors led to a vocal minority of a few thousand supporters signing a petition to stop the North London club from adding Madueke.

Madueke ‘exceptional’ for Arsenal

A few months on from his arrival, and the mood has completely changed. Arsenal also added Eze as a starting left-winger to placate supporters and, in the absence of Bukayo Saka, Madueke has become hugely important.

The 23-year-old put in a sensational performance against Nottingham Forest on Saturday as Arsenal ran out comfortable 3-0 winners over Ange Postecoglou’s side.

Madueke terrorised Forest’s defence with his speed and technical ability and even produced some nice deliveries from set pieces, which earned him lavish praise from boss Mikel Arteta after the game.

“The new ones that started, five of them today, I’m really impressed with them,” Arteta said of his new signings. “I think you can sense and feel that there are new relationships flourishing there that are going to give us different things, to become more unpredictable.

“Noni, I think he was exceptional as well.” When quizzed specifically about Madueke, he added: “A lot of courage, that’s how I describe it. Obviously, a lot of quality, but a lot of courage.

“We were about to sign him, and there was that reaction around him. I spoke to him and he was like, ‘pzzzt, I go for it, I can’t wait to put that shirt on and play for you guys.’ I said, ‘Well, let’s bring him.’

“If I was convinced before, I’m more convinced now that he’s going to do it. And yeah, I think he has such a power, such a capacity to repeat efforts. Because to be able to do that physically, you have to have a different specimen, I think.

“And he’s certainly that. But he’s very skilful, very unpredictable, so willing to learn. And he brings joy. I look at him, and he’s always smiling, he’s always trying things. He gets one wrong, he goes again. And that’s what I love about the creative players, because you need that to be successful.”

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