Mikel Arteta celebrates during Arsenal's win over Nottingham Forest (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has explained that Noni Madueke’s reaction to the criticism of him made him even more determined to sign him for the Gunners.
Madueke joined Arsenal from rivals Chelsea this summer, in what initially seemed like a pretty unpopular move amongst most Gooners.
Although the England international had shown some moments of quality during his time at Stamford Bridge, he was pretty inconsistent and there probably weren’t too many Blues supporters who were worried about him leaving.
At one point, there was notably an anti-Madueke petition that circulated online, but Arteta spoke to the player about it and was wowed by his reaction and courage…
? Mikel Arteta has revealed how Noni Madueke responded to the initial Arsenal fan reaction against his signing ? pic.twitter.com/EJE9q85koP
— CaughtOffside (@caughtoffside) September 13, 2025
“A lot of courage, that’s how I would describe it,” Arteta said in his press conference after today’s win over Nottingham Forest.
“We’re about to sign him and I see that there was a lot of reaction around him.
“I spoke to him and he was like ‘I go for it, I can’t wait to put that shirt on and play for you guys’.
“I said wow, let’s bring him, if I was convinced before I’m even more convinced now that he’s going to do it.”
Noni Madueke turning into an inspired signing for Arsenal
Noni Madueke in action for Arsenal vs Forest
Noni Madueke in action for Arsenal vs Forest (Photo by Jack Thomas/Getty Images)
Madueke looks to have taken his game up a level at Arsenal and it’s quite the compliment to him that they’ve barely missed Bukayo Saka while he’s been out injured.
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Few would have expected Arsenal to cope so well without Saka, but Madueke has been really impressive, and his performance today also followed a strong display for the England national team over the international break.
Credit to the 23-year-old for showing such character when some players would surely have been worried about the negative reaction they were going to get from their new club’s fans.