Chelsea face Tunisian side ES Tunis in their final group stage game of the FIFA Club World Cup on Wednesday morning.
The Blues beat MLS side LAFC 2-0 in their opening game of the tournament, but slumped to a shock 3-1 defeat against Brazilian outfit Flamengo in their second outing on Friday night.
While Enzo Maresca’s side are still likely to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition, they will now face a much tougher route to the final than they would have done if they had beaten Flamengo and topped Group D.
In the meantime, it has emerged that one of Chelsea’s attackers is attracting interest from a fierce Premier League rival.
As reported by CaughtOffside, Arsenal’s pursuit of a new attacker has lead them to identify Chelsea’s Noni Madueke as a potential transfer target.
The report claims that the Gunners had initially been keen on Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams, but the Spain international is keen to join Barcelona.
Madueke has emerged as a target for Arsenal (Photo: Brazil Photo Press/Alamy)
Arsenal have therefore been forced to look elsewhere, and 23-year-old Madueke has emerged as a possible target.
It is also claimed that Newcastle United and Italian giants AC Milan are monitoring the Englishman’s situation.
Madueke joined Chelsea from Dutch side PSV Eindhoven in 2023 and has since played 89 times for the West London club across all competitions.
He has scored 20 goals and provided nine assists in that time, as well as earning his first senior call-ups to the England squad.
Chelsea are said to be open to the idea of selling the Englishman and have set an asking price of around £50-55 million, however the report also suggests that the Blues would likely accept offers closer to £45 million.
Madueke’s current contract with Chelsea is set to run until the end of the 2029/30 campaign.