Former Tottenham Hotspur starlet Noni Madueke is proving his doubters wrong during a brilliant breakthrough season at PSV Eindhoven, the club’s head of youth scouting Rini de Groot has told Eindhovens Dagblad.
The London-born forward may have honed his considerable talent under Ruud van Nistelrooy at the Phillips Stadium but, in Sunday’s 3-1 triumph over Fortuna Sittard, he thumped home the kind of goal the Manchester United legend could only dream of.
Van Nistelrooy famously scored just one of his 150 goals from outside the box during his time at Old Trafford.
But Madueke has no such problems when it comes to finding the back of the net from distance, lashing a 25-yard thunderbolt into Fortuna Sittard’s net as PSV kept their faint title hopes alive.
Despite starting just six league matches, Madueke has produced seven goals and six assists in 2020/21 – a tally that makes the 19-year-old Holland’s most productive teenager.
And, according to De Groot, the England U18 international is silencing those who questioned his decision to leave the comfortable world of academy football to test himself at one of the biggest clubs in Holland.
“Not everyone in England could believe Noni was going to play for us, but it happened anyway,” he says.
“Thanks to his talent and enormous will to succeed, Noni is now important to the first team. I really enjoyed the goal he scored on Sunday and I am proud he has gone through this development with us.”
Madueke looked destined for a bright future at Tottenham and even captained the London giants at U16 level.
But, when PSV came calling, he wasted little time in rejecting a contract with Spurs in favour of a smaller pond in Eindhoven.
“We all noticed very quickly that Noni was talented. We invited (Madueke and his father) to see our training in Eindhoven. They thought that was a great plan (to sign for PSV),” De Groot adds.
“His father was genuinely convinced his son would be less likely to play in the Premier League and could therefore be inhibited in his development. That happens to more talent in England.”
So far, there’s little to suggest Madueke and son made the wrong decision.
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