Chelsea's Noni Madueke 'expectation' revealed as Arsenal ramp up £50m transfer pursuit

Chelsea are anticipating bids of at least £50m for winger Noni Madueke as Arsenal ramp up their pursuit of the England international, according to a report.

The Gunners appear to have settled on the former PSV Eindhoven and Tottenham Hotspur youngster as their number one wide target and have supposedly agreed a five-year contract with the player.

Arsenal are yet to shake hands on a fee with their London rivals, but they are expected to hold club-to-club discussions with the Conference League winners this week.

Madueke is still contracted to Chelsea for another five seasons, leaving the Blues under little pressure to sell, but they are likely to be open to a sale for the right price following the arrival of Jamie Bynoe-Gittens.

Furthermore, the Blues are trying to tie Tyrique George down to a contract extension, which will likely be made easier by the prospective exit of Madueke, as the latter is one name blocking his path to the first XI.

'Growing confidence' Chelsea's Madueke will join Arsenal

Chelsea forked out around £30m to sign Madueke midway through the 2022-23 campaign, and The Telegraph now reports that the West London giants aim to make a significant profit on the 23-year-old.

The outlet claims that the Blues are expecting to entertain bids of more than £50m for Madueke, who was only a second-half substitute in their 2-1 Club World Cup quarter-final win over Palmeiras.

There is said to be 'growing confidence' that Madueke will soon become an Arsenal player, even though Chelsea have been rebuffed when expressing interest in two Gunners talents as part of a deal.

The Blues are said to be monitoring the situation of Ethan Nwaneri, who is in the last year of his contract in North London and is yet to sign an extension with his boyhood club, but Arsenal are fighting tooth and nail to keep him.

Fifteen-year-old phenom Max Dowman is also understood to be of interest to Chelsea, but Arsenal flat out refused to discuss any deal involving the 2009-born playmaker, who cannot sign a professional deal until December 2026.

Regardless, the Gunners should have little trouble stumping up a straight cash sum for Madueke, who has come up with 20 goals and nine assists in 91 matches for Chelsea across all competitions.

How many signings could Arsenal make this summer?

The Emirates jury is arguably still out on new sporting director Andrea Berta, purely due to the fact that Arsenal are about to start pre-season without the big-money striker that Gooners have been crying out for for a couple of years.

However, that could soon be about to change with the news that Arsenal are advancing in talks to sign Sporting Lisbon's Viktor Gyokeres, who could be one of seven arrivals at London Colney in the summer window.

The Gunners confirmed the arrival of Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad on Sunday, shortly after unveiling £5m goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga as their first signing of the summer.

Christian Norgaard and Cristhian Mosquera could soon follow, as might all of Madueke, Gyokeres and Eberechi Eze; Arsenal's pursuit of the latter is said to be separate to their search for a new winger.

Written by
Ben Knapton