Arsenal have added firepower to their attack in the shape of Noni Madueke from Chelsea.
Madueke arrives in North London having been part of Chelsea’s successful FIFA Club World Cup campaign and joins the club in a deal worth £52m.
Andrea Berta played a significant role in completing the deal with Premier League rivals Chelsea and the player adds pace and versatility to Mikel Arteta’s forward options.
Bukayo Saka and Madueke both look up to Cristiano Ronaldo and whilst the England teammates will now be in competition for the position on Arsenal’s right flank, Saka will also be worried about another aspect that Madueke brings to the table.
Saka is Arsenal’s penalty taker and he will not like what he witnessed from Madueke during his time at Chelsea.
The 23-year-old winger tried to take a penalty away from Chelsea star Cole Palmer during a Premier League encounter against Everton.
The pair squabbled on the pitch until senior players eventually intervened and ruled that Palmer was the club’s spot kick taker.
Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher labelled the incident as ‘daft’ and Arteta will be laying down the law to his new acquisition that he will not accept behaviour like that in North London.
Saka will experience competition for the first time at Arsenal with Madueke’s arrival but should remain as the penalty taker, despite missing his last spot kick in the Bernabeu.
One new signing that could replace Saka as Arsenal’s penalty taker is Viktor Gyokeres if a deal can be completed for the Sporting Lisbon forward.
The Swede has excellent composure in front of goal and has scored more than double the amount of spot kicks as the Hale End star.
Arteta will be hoping that the Gunners will increase their goals from open play next season following the arrival of Gyokeres but he also adds another set-piece threat.
It will be interesting to see whether the 27-year-old also takes over free kicks that are within shooting range, having also demonstrated his ability with those whilst in Portugal.
