Mikel Arteta has been pretty ruthless at Arsenal on several occasions.
The Spaniard terminated the contracts of Mesut Ozil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in order to try and help the Gunners kick on with a new culture, also releasing the likes of Shkodran Mustafi for his consistently poor displays.
Mikel Arteta was also quite brutal when it came to Aaron Ramsdale – discarding the England international after just two seasons in place of David Raya, due to a few errors which cost Arsenal in the 2022/23 Premier League title race.
OH MY WORD 🤯
Barely 30 seconds in and Carlos Alcaraz puts Southampton ahead after a shocker from Aaron Ramsdale! pic.twitter.com/T1kZVTwldr
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 21, 2023
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Before the glovesman had even made a single appearance for the Gunners, however, Arsenal fans were furious about his arrival, and a similar situation is now developing with Noni Madueke.
Noni Madueke is following in the footsteps of Aaron Ramsdale
Arsenal are close to signing Madueke in a £52m move from Chelsea.
The England international left the FIFA Club World Cup early – not even waiting to receive a medal after the final against PSG this Sunday – in order to seal his move to N5 as soon as possible.
However, Arsenal fans are furious about the signing of Madueke.
Over 4,000 supporters have even signed a petition to get the deal called off, underwhelmed by the amount of money being spent on a player largely expected to be a mere deputy for Bukayo Saka, and also frustrated by the fact yet another unspectacular Chelsea player is being signed by Arteta.
Players Mikel Arteta has signed from Chelsea since his arrival in December 2019
Willian
Kai Havertz
Jorginho
Raheem Sterling (loan)
Kepa Arrizabalaga
Noni Madueke (pending official announcement)
A #NoToMadueke campaign has even gone viral on social media.
In that respect, the deal has echoes of when Ramsdale arrived in a £24m move from Sheffield United back in August 2021.
What Aaron Ramsdale said about treatment from Arsenal fans
The Emirates Stadium faithful were livid, and the backlash was even referenced by the goalkeeper himself when signing a new contract in May 2023 when he said: “I know you guys probably weren’t the most overexcited for the signing of myself, and I totally get it.
“I (didn’t) have any right to come here and expect you all to rate me from the get go.”
Ramsdale – now a target for Sunderland after suffering relegation with Southampton – did eventually win over the Arsenal fans with some inspired displays, and swiftly displaced Bernd Leno as No.1 at the Emirates Stadium.
We highly doubt Madueke will dislodge Saka from the starting XI in a similar fashion, although Ramsdale has already provided the winger with a playbook of how to deal with initial backlash from Arsenal fans, before a ball has even been kicked.