Noni Madueke has been given permission by Chelsea to leave the club’s camp in the United States, where they are preparing to face Paris St-Germain in the Club World Cup final on Sunday for his medical at Arsenal.
Softfootball can report that the Gunners had £52million offer accepted for Madueke by their London rivals Chelsea and he is now due to undergo a medical before completing his move to the Emirates.
According to The Athletic, the England winger will sign a five-year deal at Arsenal and become the Gunners fourth signing of the summer following the arrivals of Christian Nørgaard, Kepa Arrizabalaga and 26-year-old Martín Zubimendi.
Madueke is expected to play from the right side of midfield like he did in the vast majority of his appearances for Chelsea. Infact, he played there 88% of the time in the Premier League since joining the Blues in January 2023.
However, his signing is likely to ease the burden Arsenal starman Bukayo Saka, who has perhaps been overworked in recent seasons.
The Arsenal academy graduate started 108 of 114 league matches from 2021-22 to 23-24 but missed three months with a hamstring injury last season.
Just last week, Chelsea received a fine by UEFA for breaching financial rules but have not stopped spending as they’ve made big-money moves to sign Joao Pedro, Jamie Gittens and Brazilian Wonderkid Estevao Willian.
So, it makes sense to let Madueke join the Gunners for such a huge fee. The current Europa Conference League winners may not feel the absence of the former PSV winger as they are spoilt with options in that position.
Softfootball reported earlier that Arsenal have agreed a deal to sign Madueke. He will sign a long-term deal if he passes the Gunners medical.
Last season, Madueke attempted more shots and dribbles per 90 minutes for Chelsea than both Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard did for Arsenal.
