Amid the big summer signings, a few wingers went…if not under the radar, then certainly outside the must-get-it-done boxes that supporters were wanting ticked. Noni Madueke fits that criteria – but he’s already showing why he might turn out to be one of the transfers of the year.
By Karl Matchett
With Bukayo Saka’s early season injury, the value of signing a first-team player who can fill in for the England star has already been shown. But perhaps more pertinently for Mikel Arteta and Arsenal as a whole, Gabriel Martinelli’s continued underwhelming impact – even accounting for his midweek goal in Bilbao – highlights the value of having a winger equally at home on either flank.
Sure, Eberechi Eze may feature prominently from the left side as well, but he’s a different style to Madueke and Martinelli – regardless of which of that duo starts, there’s pace aplenty and an ability to run at defenders, and it’s Noni Madueke who is filling the Saka-shaped void in having success with both creation and ball-carrying. For Arteta, who has built a side solid in shape and reliant on certain individuality in open play, that’s of paramount importance.
It’s early in the season, so not too much emphasis should be placed on numbers, but at the same time it provides a barometer for autumn form: Madueke leads the way in the entire squad for expected assists (0.8), is second behind Eze for successful dribbles per 90 (2.4) and has double the number of chances created to anyone else in the Gunners’ squad (8). For comparison, Saka averaged 3.0 chances created per 90 minutes across the whole of last term; Madueke is running at 2.8 so far – and Martin Ødegaard, a key mover of the ball in the final third, has been ineffective and absent in turns so far.
There are non-numerical bonuses to Madueke’s quick impact, too. Arsenal’s campaign opener saw Saka on the wing and Ben White at right-back; neither have been in place of late, with Madueke forging a good relationship so far with Jurrien Timber. It takes the pressure off needing to bring back Saka in a hurry, and also reduces expectations on Ethan Nwaneri – an unquestioned talent, but still only 18 and needing time and space to develop his game naturally. Madueke, at 23, still has room for improvement himself but is also already experienced enough to contribute regularly.
He did that for Chelsea last season of course. The Stamford Bridge club has a rotating door seemingly, when it comes to wide players – yet even so he played more than 2,000 league minutes for them and on a per-90 basis ranked in the top 10% in his position for shots, xG, tackles and – in the top 6% – touches in the box. It wasn’t enough for the Blues but he’s showing he can improve on that output in a red shirt. £55m isn’t cheap by any means, but he’s still offering strong value so far.
There’s also a question over what comes at the end of the season: Madueke now has nine England caps and dazzled in the September international break, scoring his first for the Three Lions against Serbia. It’s hard to shake the feeling that a fit Saka is a certain starter, for Arsenal and England alike, but therein lies the joker in the pack with Madueke’s ability to play both sides. It shouldn’t be ruled out that the north London club has both starting wide men for Thomas Tuchel’s side when the 2026 World Cup rolls around, just nine months from now.
But if that’s an ambition for the future, England shirts also offer a lesson from the past. There has been a strangely short shelf life at international level for would-be wide men of late.
Callum Hudson-Odoi, Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford, Jack Grealish, Harvey Barnes, Raheem Sterling…they’ve all fallen by the wayside in one manner or another, some losing their way and others never quite seeming to peak. Factor in the apparent obsession in some quarters to force-fit Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham too, and it’s clear there’s no easy run at a shirt – yet Madueke, more under the radar than most of those names, is simply…doing his job. And doing it well, on and off the ball. Madueke ranks third in the entire Premier League – again, early days – for possession won in the final third per 90. That’s something Tuchel and Arteta alike will recognise and reward.
It’s fair to say that after Arsenal supporters spent a lot of the summer suggesting he was unnecessary and focus and funds would have been better spent elsewhere – a No. 9 was top billing of course, pre-Gyökeres deal – the former Chelsea man has quickly become a fan favourite. The challenge for Madueke will be twofold: maintaining form is obviously the best way to stay in the team and involved in Arteta’s plans, but also impacting from the bench when rotation kicks in or when his game-long form inevitably drops off somewhat.
Leandro Trossard has had flashes of being that go-to guy off the bench for Arsenal, while Martinelli showed he can do it in Bilbao – but has been disappointing, considering his ceiling, for some time now. If Madueke simply stays above the two of them in the preference order, he’s automatically likely to be first cab off the ranks even in games he doesn’t start – and the same role is very much a possibility for England.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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