Noni Madueke has firmly lost his place in the Chelsea team. From being relegated to the makeshift left-winger, he is now out of Enzo Maresca’s best starting XI.
Having entered the Club World Cup with his spot in doubt, Madueke started two of the three group games. Chelsea won both of those without conceding but Madueke would struggle to argue he was at his best in either.
Instead, Maresca continued his trend of preferring Pedro Neto on the right. As was the case in the final month of the main season, Madueke was tasked with operating on his weaker left side.
Mykhailo Mudryk’s suspension and Jadon Sancho’s failed permanent transfer meant Madueke entered the Club World Cup with only Tyrique George as genuine competition on the wings. However, Chelsea have since signed Jamie Gittens and Joao Pedro.
Gittens is unable to play in the Club World Cup after being named in Borussia Dortmund’s squad for the competition, but Pedro has come straight in. He played 40 minutes as a substitute against Palmeiras in the quarter-final and was then thrown in to start on Tuesday.
Pedro took advantage of Nicolas Jackson’s extended red card punishment – now one from Maresca rather than FIFA – and Liam Delap’s enforced absence due to a yellow card ban. He scored twice in a 2-0 win to book Chelsea’s place in Sunday’s final.
For Madueke, these could be his last games as a Chelsea player. Arsenal are in talks to sign him having already agreed personal terms over a move earlier this month.
Chelsea are open to selling the 23-year-old with his 2025 form dipping. Maresca will also have Estevao Willian joining his side on the right flank and Geovany Quenda to follow next year. Another attacker coming in has not been ruled out either.
Despite Madueke considering his future, Maresca has not felt it necessary to totally cut him from the squad. As mentioned, he was involved against Palmeiras and once more played in the Fluminense clash.
The game was still in the balance when he was introduced alongside Pedro against Palmeiras. Madueke almost scored as he crashed a shot against the post late on.
His appearance in the afternoon New York sun at the MetLife Stadium was much less impactful with several failed dribbles and nothing much to shout about. However, it speaks to Maresca’s trust in Madueke that he is still being used at all.
The same goes for Christopher Nkunku, who has been widely expected to leave. He has started the last two games and scored the winner in the last-16 against Benfica.
Although Chelsea do have options in attack, it is not like they are overflowing at this point. Pedro has only had a few days of training and Gittens is unavailable.
Just as much as it might show Maresca’s trust in Nkunku and Madueke that they are still getting minutes at this stage with even their short-term prospects in doubt, the inverse is also true somewhere in there. Maresca is favouring Nkunku as a wideman over Madueke and has shifted Neto and Cole Palmer to both wings before turning to Madueke.
Whether this is tied to his form, simply a tactical choice, or an indication of where his future lies, it is not yet clear. “Personally I think the same noise where before the Palmeiras game,” Maresca said of the Madueke talks ahead of Tuesday’s match.
“You see we gave him half an hour and he was very good [vs Palmeiras], so I don’t have any doubt that if we need Noni he is going to help us, at the same moment I can understand that as a human being when there are many noise around you it’s not easy to deal with that, but hopefully he can deal with that.”
With Madueke set to be in the Chelsea squad for the final, things are not likely to advance rapidly in the coming days regarding a transfer. Arsenal are trying to finalise the big-money deal for Viktor Gyokeres whilst Chelsea themselves are focusing on exits.
There is still time for Madueke to play again for Chelsea, and Maresca still sees him as a part of the active squad at the Club World Cup. That is a good sign for all parties but how it develops remains to be seen.
