Noni Madueke raised a lot of eyebrows when he decided that he wanted to leave Chelsea for Arsenal in the middle of the Club World Cup campaign. Many viewed this as not only bad timing but the wrong choice as well. After all, Mikel Arteta’s side already had Bukayo Saka. And there was little chance he would play ahead of him.
Right now, Madueke has every right to feel that he was right all along. Arsenal have just won the Premier League after more than two decades. They are also in the Champions League final, a competition they have never won.
On the other hand, Chelsea have had another poor season. They have finished 10th in the Premier League and without a trophy, getting closest in the FA Cup before losing the final to Manchester City.
According to Fabrizio Romano, when asked if he had imagined the season could be this good at Arsenal, Madueke replied:
“I did, that’s why I came so quickly from where I was!”
Madueke appears to take dig at Chelsea after Arsenal’s Premier League triumph
It is hard not to read into that as a bit of a dig at Chelsea. Perhaps Madueke did not mean it to be, but it certainly comes off that way.
At the end of the day, Madueke has won the Premier League with Arsenal. And if that was the aim of the move, then he has been successful without a doubt.
On the other hand, those who had questioned his ability to get into the team have been proven right as well. Over the course of the season, Madueke started just 16 times in the Premier League. That is not someone who can be described as one of the faces of the team, that is for sure.
Madueke has done better in the Champions League than the Premier League
Madueke ended the season with three goals and an assist in the Premier League this season. Incidentally, he has outdone that in the Champions League, with the same output but in just six starts.
Arsenal will be taking on PSG in the Champions League final. And if they can win that, they will go down as the greatest side in the history of the club. Perhaps not when it comes to ability. But definitely when it comes to success.
They would also become the second team from London to win the European competition. You all know the first and only.
As for Chelsea, they have bigger things to be worried about than potential digs from former players. Xabi Alonso is coming in this summer and needs to be backed properly if they want to make his stint a success and compete with teams like Arsenal in the future.
Sourav Mahanty
Sourav Mahanty has covered teams like Chelsea, Celtic, Real Madrid, Manchester United, PSG and more over a career that has now lasted a decade. His work has been featured on Sports Illustrated, Athlon Sports, SB Nation, FanSided, The Sportster and aggregated through Bleacher Report and NewsNow. Outside of football, he is also interested in basketball, cricket and professional wrestling.
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