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Arteta: "Madueke is an unbelievable player"

Noni Madueke bagged his first international goal for England this week and Mikel Arteta has been delighted with how our winger has settled into life in N5.

The England star netted in a 5-0 victory over Serbia in Belgrade, as well as make three appearances for us since his move from Chelsea in July.

Speaking at his press conference ahead of our match wit Nottingham Forest, Mikel took time to praise the 23-year-old and is delighted with how our fans have welcomed him as an Arsenal player.

He said: "I can talk about what I've seen and what I have experienced and I think the welcoming that our supporters gave to Noni from day one, it was incredible. So, I don't know all the ways that people communicated the disagreement with that.

"But our supporters, they've been exceptional and rightly so, because he's an unbelievable player."

Read more Every word from Arteta's pre-Forest presser

Noni's debut in our win at Manchester United came on the left, before starting on the same wing in the 5-0 victory over Leeds. 

Injury to Bukayo Saka saw Noni switch to the right wing for the trip to Liverpool, causing problems throughout the contest at Anfield.

Mikel is enjoying the competition within the squad and the boss knows it's an important factor to setting the highest of standards 

He said: When that day comes, that B [Bukayo Saka] is in his best condition and Noni the same, that's what we want and I'm very happy to have him. 

"I think, looking back at what he's done with the national team as well, I’ve spoken with Thomas [Tuchel] as well, I am very pleased with that. He's really good and he's in a really, really good moment."

Read more Internationals: Madueke scores and Odegaard stars

Noni wasn't the only one who impressed during the international break, with Martin Odegaard finding the net as well as Mikel Merino who netted four times, including a hat-trick against Turkey.

Mikel was happy to see all of his stars return from the international break unscathed and hopes the depth of the squad will help us achieve our ambitions in 2025/26.

He said: "Last year we were much shorter, especially in certain positions, and now I think we have better depth, better quality, better options as well, because some players can play in two or three different positions, which is great to have and is going to give us very different options."

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