If Chelsea make the surprise decision to cash in on Noni Madueke and roll the dice once more on how their wide positions are shaping up, it will mark the first time a significant player of the Enzo Maresca era has been sold.
While Chelsea are planning as though he is very much a part of their future and certainly do not consider him ‘for sale’, they are aware he has interest, willing to listen to reasonable offers for the 23-year-old, and would consider his exit if it meant clearing the decks for a talented newcomer out wide.
That may sound cruel on an attacker who provided 16 goal contributions this season and has felt a major player in their renewal under Maresca, and that’s because in some senses it is. But it is also a fact of life and of the football landscape Chelsea, and everyone else, now operate in.
Madueke enjoyed a solid season for the Blues and was singled out for praise by the England manager Thomas Tuchel as their best player in the drab 1-0 win over Andorra earlier this month. Yet his end product in the final third still leaves something to be desired, with some at Chelsea of the belief that his crossing and shooting is perhaps not quite as clinical or efficient as it could be.
The direction of travel at the moment, though, is not one of Chelsea searching for avenues through which to part with Madueke. Rather, there is interest in the former PSV Eindhoven man from other clubs who sense there may be a chance to prise the talented attacker away from Stamford Bridge ahead of the new season.
Arsenal are one club said to be tracking Madueke, and they are known to be considering options to help strengthen wide areas and provide greater competition for Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli. Could Madueke be the solution? He is two-footed and adept on either flank so a versatile proposition.
Plus, the two clubs, though rivals, have recently done business, with Raheem Sterling spending last season at Arsenal on loan from Chelsea and Kepa Arrizabalaga joining from the Blues.
It is also known that Tottenham and Newcastle want to strengthen out wide. Manchester United are already forging ahead in that regard, as they pursue Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo, as are Chelsea themselves: keen on gaining a right-footed left winger after Jadon Sancho’s loan ended and with Jamie Gittens of Borussia Dortmund their top target.
Estêvão Willian, the 18-year-old winger from Palmeiras, joins Chelsea's squad after the Club World Cup.
The response Maresca gave on Thursday to a question on whether the club might sell Madueke was clear enough. “Noni is our player”, the Italian insisted. “You can read a lot of speculation at the moment, but we consider Noni our player for the coming season.”
Madueke has the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico in 12 months’ time as a target to aim for, with his chances of making it into England’s final 26-man squad reasonably high, a year out.
Whether at Chelsea or (less likely, as things stand) elsewhere, he knows he must be playing regularly and contributing positively in a functional forward-line to make that dream a reality. These are crucial months for him.
