With 14 Premier League goals, Chelsea's three main wingers scored fewer combined than Cole Palmer last season. Between Noni Madueke, Pedro Neto, and Jadon Sancho, there was offensively regular inconsistency.
Madueke, for example, started the year brightly with a hat-trick away at Wolves on matchday two but took 12 appearances before registering his first assist. The naturally right-sided attacker then enjoyed an early December hot streak but faded as the team struggled as a whole into 2025.
His end-of-year figures of seven goals and four assists represents and improvement on his first full season with double the number of starts and total minutes as well. His underlying metrics since joining in January 2023 have tripled, showing gradual but significant improvement over time.
Madueke is one of the success stories of growing as a player as he ages at Chelsea. Signed for £35million, his progressive carries, expected goals (xG) and expected assists (xA) are all trending in the right direction, especially for a winger under Enzo Maresca.
It cannot be ignored that Madueke also ended the season with just one goal contribution from the final 11 league games. He began to be moved from the right to the left in order to face up to certain right-backs which Maresca fancied him to torment, and it largely worked.
It does limit how much Madueke can cut inside to shoot, though. The 23-year-old ultimately had a decent but not spectacular season. The same can go for both Neto and Sancho (and even Palmer, but he is not a winger, remaining as the fulcrum of the team's attacking play).
Palmer is the comparison, here, because he provides so much of the output for this side. Chelsea need a source of threat from elsewhere, still, and that is where Maresca has struggled. When Palmer started to go cold, Chelsea never truly found an answer.
It is telling that Marc Cucurella became the largest weapon from arriving at the back post on time to finish from inverted full-back. When left without Palmer to feed off, Chelsea's wingers did not massively step up.
When Madueke has played well, it has often seen Sancho and/or Neto struggle. Both Neto and Sancho assisted more than Madueke but seven goals combined really is a poor showing.
Chelsea committed a potential £76million to signing the pair last summer. football.london understands that a decision to send Sancho back to Manchester United for £5million has since been taken after the club failed to reach an agreement over a permanent contract.
It makes sense given that Sancho's output is not worthy of more than simply a squad player role. Whilst useful, Sancho disappeared from games over the winter and went on a run of 13 matches without a shot on target, at one point.
When Chelsea were missing Nicolas Jackson due to injury (and later Madueke), it was down to Neto and Sancho to help out. Although Chelsea just about came through alive - albeit bruised after back-to-back defeats at Brighton and a damaging loss away to Aston Villa - there is reasonable scepticism about how the attack had fared.
You can only beat what is in front of you, but Chelsea were laboured in a 1-0 win over Leicester City (sealed by a long-range effort from Cucurella) whilst overcoming Copenhagen and Southampton. It is not the sort of run to strike fear into their opponents.
Neto, during this period, was the best replacement striker. He at least offered some directness and speed to play. Whereas Madueke started the season strongly, Neto was relatively anonymous. He scored a crucial equaliser against Arsenal in November but was otherwise peripheral until closer to March.
(Image: Getty Images)
He produced some key moments in the final few months which have swung the narrative over the two Chelsea wingers heading into the summer. Madueke, for example, is now being linked with a move away whilst Neto is reflected upon positively despite scoring just four times in the league after signing for £51million.
These patches of form caused problems for Maresca as he tried to create a threat away from Palmer. It is no surprise that Chelsea have been looking in the market for new options.
Jamie Gittens is the man they have turned to. Talks over a potential transfer have continued with Borussia Dortmund as Chelsea look to complete a deal ahead of the Club World Cup.
The 20-year-old is a product of the Manchester City academy having also spent time at Chelsea and Reading during his youth. It is in Germany where he has developed the most, into a tricky left-sided attacker.
Gittens is a dribbling menace and constantly aims to take on his opponents in a style similar to Madueke. His output is not spectacular in a league known for inflating attacking numbers, which is a concern; but, as with many of the players Chelsea have signed in recent years, there is plenty of raw ability to work with.
Like Neto, who has spent more time shifting between wings than Madueke, Gittens is able to operate from both sides. He is a real lefty specialist, though. That is not something that either Neto or Madueke can say.
Last season Gittens played 37 times on the left with only six appearances on the right. Chelsea know that they will need depth across the frontline, especially with Mykhailo Mudryk's indefinite suspension and uncertain future, but on paper, it is Gittens as the main left-winger currently.
Borussia Dortmund winger Jamie Gittens
Borussia Dortmund winger Jamie Gittens (Image: Hendrik Deckers/Borussia Dortmund via Getty Images)
Madueke and Neto have been the two fighting for a spot on the right, with Sancho playing almost only on the left. The versatility is good to have, but it will be a new dynamic for Maresca to work with as he looks to balance the attack.
Gittens, like Sancho, is right-footed. Neto and Madueke after both left-footed, so there are ways to mix and match here. Add in Estevao Willian for his debut season and Tyrique George's emergence, and Maresca has some big calls to make.
Madueke and Neto are immediately Chelsea's two most direct wingers but have a preference for playing on the right. They are an £86million investment and having them compete against each other is surely only a good thing.
Neto has more of a history from the left than Madueke but he is more creative and generally effective there. He scores less on the right but assists more. In the league, across his time at Wolves and Chelsea, Neto has an almost equal split between right and left. His output does not change much, either.
Chelsea signed him primarily as a right-sided option, though, and will be aiming to foster a battle between their players as much as possible. There are tactical variances which can be made here as well.
Whatever way Maresca chooses to go, Chelsea need more from their wingers next season. Gittens promises to add something new to the forward stocks but there will be pressure on Madueke and Neto to produce.
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Chelsea flag prior the UEFA Champions League Quarter Final Leg One match between Chelsea FC and Real Madrid at Stamford Bridge. (Photo by Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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