Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka react to Noni Madueke first Arsenal message
Noni Madueke is officially an Arsenal player and already, he’s catching the eye on social media.
The England international completed an eye-catching switch from Chelsea to the Gunners following a two-and-a-half-year spell at Stamford Bridge that yielded 20 goals and nine assists in 92 appearances across all competitions.
| Chelsea stats | Noni Madueke |
| Appearances | 92 |
| Goals | 20 |
| Assists | 9 |
| Trophies | 2 |
Madueke has cost Arsenal £52million (Sky Sports, 18 July) and is just the latest player to make the switch from London blue to red and white following the likes of Kai Havertz, Petr Cech, Jorginho and, earlier this summer, Kepa Arrizabalaga.
The 23-year-old will wear the number 20 shirt at the Emirates Stadium, with the clear remit of helping Arsenal win the Premier League title for the first time since 2004.
Noni Madueke catches the eye
Madueke took to Instagram on Sunday (20 July) to reveal the first photos of him in an Arsenal kit, with the caption simply tagging the club.
The post caught plenty of attention from his new Arsenal teammates, with Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri among those to like it.
Players from other clubs dropped Madueke a like as well, including Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers and former Chelsea teammate Djordje Petrovic, who recently moved to Bournemouth.
Arsenal arrived in Singapore on Sunday for a series of high-profile friendlies against AC Milan, Newcastle United and North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
Chelsea blasted for Club World Cup prize money
Chelsea will be thrilled with the fee they’ve received for Madueke, making a major profit on a player who only started 47 Premier League matches during his time with the club.
But the Blues have been heavily criticised for the amount of prize money they’ve received from their recent Club World Cup win, which could create an imbalance in the Premier League.
“Overall, it wasn’t the best clubs in the world playing by any means. You’re missing clubs like Liverpool, et cetera, who are right up there,” former Everton and Aston Villa chief Keith Wyness told Football Insider (20 July).
“Until you can actually say that the true champions of all the leagues are playing, then you haven’t got any right to claim things. It just becomes a glorified, invitational tournament.
“Also, it skewed the money received by some of those clubs. Chelsea are the ones I’m looking at that really have received an amount of money that has really imbalanced the Premier League in some way.
“I was pleased that UEFA have clawed back 30 million in a fine from Chelsea, but it’s just wrong that an invitational tournament can skew clubs’ abilities to spend. So that’s been to the detriment of the normal domestic game to a degree.
“What we’ve got to be realistic about is that FIFA are very thirsty for politics, for domination beyond the international game into the club game.
“I’m afraid it isn’t going away. So as fans, what we can try and do is lobby to make it better, both in execution and the impact it has on domestic football.”