Noni Madueke sends heartfelt message to Carney Chukwuemeka as Chelsea exit nears
Noni Madueke has penned a heartfelt message to former teammate Carney Chukwuemeka as he prepares to follow the Arsenal winger out of Chelsea this summer.
Attacking midfielder Chukwuemeka joined Chelsea from Aston Villa in 2022, signing a six-year contract, but he has struggled to make his mark at Stamford Bridge in the years since due to the Blues’ constant turnover of players.
He did not play at all in the Premier League in the first half of last season, and Football Insider revealed in January that Chukwuemeka had rejected offers from Everton and West Ham before he soon joined Borussia Dortmund on loan.
The 21-year-old played 13 times and scored once for the German giants in the regular season, in what seemed to be a largely underwhelming loan spell, but he stayed on to compete in the Club World Cup and impressed in the newly-revamped tournament in the USA.
Dortmund want Chukwuemeka back this summer following his temporary move, but The Athletic have reported that Chelsea are only interested in a sale, while the Bundesliga outfit want to sort another loan deal that includes an option to buy.
Chukwuemeka shares summer update away from Chelsea
Chukwuemeka seemingly has no future at Stamford Bridge, and he will have been given extra time off by the club following his CWC exploits with Dortmund.
The England youth international took to Instagram on Friday (25 July) to share some pictures of his summer break, with former teammate Madueke alongside him in one photo after he recently left the Blues to join Arsenal.
Madueke moved to reply to Chukwuemeka’s post with a heartfelt message, saying: “Love you boy!,” while Trevoh Chalobah replied: “CC !” and Dortmund star Gio Reyna fuelled rumours of a return by adding: “My guy” with a red heart emoji.
Chelsea need to sell Chukwuemeka due to financial pressures
Football Insider verdict
Chukwuemeka is clearly an asset to Chelsea, but not one that looks set to force his way into their starting eleven or first-team squad anytime soon, and so it is no wonder that they want to sell him considering their current financial position.
| Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| 32 | 2 | 1 |
The Blues’ extravagant recent spending looks to have caught up with them in some regard, with the likes of Joao Pedro, Liam Delap and Gittens all already signed for big fees this summer.
Chelsea were recently fined €31million (£27m) by UEFA, after they breached their earnings and squad-cost rules (SCR), and so they have adjudged that the Stamford Bridge outfit will not be allowed to include new players in their European squad next season and in 2026-27, unless they can show they have “generated a cost saving with sale of players against acquisitions.”
That means they need a fire sale of cast-offs, but with Raheem Sterling, Joao Felix and Christopher Nkunku all short of suitors due to their hefty wage packets, they have instead sold starting winger Madueke to the Gunners in a likely bid to balance the books.
Chukwuemeka is another young, promising player who could well attract attention from clubs willing to spend big to sign him this summer, and so while the Blues may rue letting him go in the future, selling him is clearly on the cards and set to happen this summer.