Noni Madueke to Arsenal is happening, whether their fans like it or not — and boy, they do not.
Yes, it’s another Chelsea player. Yes, there are more glamorous targets out there. But he’s really not that bad, lads. He’s definitely not worth a #NoToMadueke petition with thousands of signatures.
Arsenal fans have absolutely crashed out over this, and honestly, it’s hilarious. They are an emotional bunch, especially those on social media behaving like Mikel Arteta has broken into their homes and flogged all their possessions on the black market to fund a £52million move for Madueke.
It’s going to be okay. He’s only 23, is clearly a decent footballer, a full England international, played regularly for the fourth-best team in the Premier League, and is only out of favour at Chelsea because they’re terminally addicted to signing wingers.
While Arsenal supporters have a history of being too emotional for their own good, their manager, Arteta, has a history of proving those overreacting (or just thick) fans wrong.
Arteta has done so in the transfer market quite a few times, and these six examples should help the Emirates faithful cope better as their manager improves the attack with a Premier League-proven player. Oh, the humanity.
JorginhoYes, Arteta’s obsession with signing unwanted Chelsea players is really f***ing weird, but it’s only been a complete and utter disaster once — and that was the free signing of Willian. The upside to signing Kepa Arrizabalaga for £5million massively outweighs the cons of the transfer, but the Madueke deal is clearly one step too far for a large portion of the Arsenal fanbase.
While the negative reaction to that prospective move has been completely over the top, there was an equally incredible headloss from Arsenal fans when they signed Jorginho from Chelsea on deadline day in the 2023 winter transfer window.
Jorginho was weirdly rated during his time at Stamford Bridge, and his move to the Emirates wasn’t welcomed with much optimism, if any. He was the alternative to Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo, and that made fans very angry indeed. Instead of paying over £100million, as Chelsea did that summer, the Gunners cheaped out and signed Jorginho for a tenth of that price.
It was an underwhelming signing and Arteta was under fire for it, but the Spaniard promised fans they would soon fall in love with Jorginho. And do you know what? A lot of people did.
Aaron RamsdaleThe Arsenal fan reaction to Aaron Ramsdale’s move from Sheffield United in 2021 was despicable, but looks tame in comparison to the #NoToMadueke nonsense polluting social media this week.
The immediate reaction to interest in Ramsdale was centred around the fact he gets relegated at every team he plays for, and to this day, Arsenal remain the only Premier League team he’s played for that he hasn’t experienced that with.
Excluding the Madueke meltdown, it’s hard to remember a signing being written off so fast and as brutally as Ramsdale. He turned out alright in the end — huge in the 2022/23 title push, making some remarkable saves, like the one to tip a deflected Mohamed Salah shot around the post in front of the Kop.
He wasn’t world class, but Ramsdale certainly justified Arteta’s decision to buy him.
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Replacing Aaron RamsdaleAfter Ramsdale defied the odds and expectations to become a fan favourite, he was controversially ushered out of his spot between the sticks in favour of David Raya.
Signed on loan for £3m, Raya’s move from Brentford became permanent last summer for £27m. Having initially joined to the bemusement of fans, pretty much everyone understood why Arteta did what he did by the time his transfer fee was paid.
It did feel harsh on Ramsdale, but this is a brutal business, and if you can improve in a position without leaving yourself struggling financially, by all means, go for it. That’s what Arteta did when Raya became available. He’s better at almost every aspect of goalkeeping — though it did take a while for Arsenal fans to realise this.
Signing Leandro Trossard, not Mykhaylo Mudryk
Like with Jorginho and Caicedo, Arsenal fans wanted a shiny new toy from outside the Premier League, in the same window as the Italian midfielder’s move from west to north London. The Gunners couldn’t agree a fee with Shakhtar Donetsk for Mykhaylo Mudryk, which prompted Chelsea to swoop in and swiftly meet the Ukrainian club’s demands. Arteta’s attention then turned to Brighton forward Leandro Trossard, who was signed for a very respectable £21m.
Arsenal fans weren’t overly upset that the alternative was Trossard — he joined with a decent reputation — but they were annoyed that their club’s stinginess had potentially cursed them again. Mudryk was supposed to become a global superstar, dubbed a future Ballon d’Or winner by ex-Shakhtar boss Roberto De Zerbi.
Mudryk was electric on his Blues debut, but that was as good as it got for him — skinning a few players in a goalless draw at Anfield. He’s now suspended for taking a banned substance, while Trossard is widely regarded as one of the most clutch players in the Premier League. We called it. Kind of.
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Granit XhakaFans wanted Xhaka out of the club, and for once, we really can’t blame them. Their captain told them to f**k off and threw the club’s shirt to the ground in disgrace. His time at the club looked done for sure, but Arteta convinced him to stay — and what a decision that somehow turned out to be.
From fans demanding he leaves to begging for him to stay, Xhaka enjoyed one hell of a remontada and it was all down to Arteta convincing him to stay, having identified him as a crucial ingredient in his Gunners recipe.
William Saliba’s loansWhen Saliba was signed for £27m, Arsenal kept him at Saint-Etienne, which was fine. Then he played a little in pre-season but didn’t make a competitive first-team appearance, being shipped out to Nice in January 2021. Arsenal fans were not happy.
They were even more annoyed when Saliba joined Marseille the following summer. They shouldn’t have been, because the Arsenal defence in 2021/22 would’ve dragged him down — and his season at the Orange Velodrome was incredibly beneficial in the long term.
Some Arsenal fans are still annoyed and believe keeping Saliba for 21/22 would’ve got them into the Champions League. They could be right, but this was still a terrific decision made by Arteta, who ended up dealing with Saliba’s development very well, when almost everyone seemed to believe he was ruining his career and denying the club a genuine superstar.