Kevin Hatchard says former Tottenham Hotspur player Noni Madueke would ‘fit Mikel Arteta’s system’ at Arsenal amid claims Chelsea could bring him to the Premier League.
The 20-year-old came through Tottenham’s academy, before leaving in 2018 and showcasing his worth at PSV, and now there is talk that Graham Potter’s Chelsea want to sign him.
European football expert Kevin Hatchard labelled the winger as ‘dynamic’ and someone who has had injury problems during the early part of his career.
Despite that, he has faired very well for PSV, including scoring nine goals and supplying six assists last season as a teenager.
Even though Chelsea have spent nearly half a billion since Todd Boehly took over, it seems as though they aren’t stopping there in adding talent to their ranks.
Nonetheless, this is what Hatchard made of the former Spurs player and how he has performed since leaving the Premier League, as he told Transfer Talk on Sky Sports.
“He’s a guy that’s had a really good few seasons at PSV,” said Hatchard. “But he has had a lot of injury problems.
“They’re not major ones either. They tend to be muscle injuries that might keep him out for a month or six weeks and that kind of thing, so he’s not quite gotten back to the level that he had at the start of the 2020/21 season when he looked really sharp and was scoring some brilliant goals.
“There is definitely talent there. He is somebody who comes in off the right. He can do damage through the centre. Brilliant at long-range shooting sometimes. He’s dynamic. He’s not the biggest. A quality player, would he be in Chelsea’s XI? I’m not sure.
“He’s one of PSV’s main men. He doesn’t play in quite the same position, but you lose Cody Gakpo’s goals and assists, then suddenly it’s like ‘we have to get those from somewhere’ and he’s a guy they will look to. Chelsea could afford to manage his minutes and help him through a season, whilst he still grows because he’s only 20.
“He’d fit in Arteta’s system, it’s again, whether it becomes an auction. Who wins? Arsenal have shown that they have that restraint. That’s not to say Arsenal haven’t spent a lot of money, they have during the last few windows. But they seem to stick to the level they get to.”
BRAVE CALL FROM MADUEKE
It would have been easy for Madueke to stay at Tottenham and work his way up as a teenager because he was still in his development phase.
But he clearly felt that he was ready for first-team football, and he wasn’t wrong.
Not only is he thriving for PSV, but he is also working his way up the England age groups and he will be aiming for that senior call down the line.
Well, returning to the Premier League would certainly help him down that road.
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