Happy Saturday to you.
Arsenal head for Singapore today, to start the pre-season tour, but one player won’t be going with them. That’s new signing Noni Madueke who was officially announced yesterday, but – having been at the tournament nobody watched all summer because it is a pointless, rancid piece of crap that serves only as a fluffer for Gianni Infantino’s gigantic ego and allows that corrupt wankbag who thinks he owns football to cosy up to some of the worst people in the world – the club have told him to get some holidays and come back refreshed for a new start at his new club.
To be fair, I liked his reaction to that:
I was saying it to all my friends walking around here, you don’t even want to take the rest. I know I have to for my body and stuff to heal, but when I come back, I’ll be raring to go.
The England international becomes the fourth new arrival this summer, and whatever reservations we have about the deal itself, the price, and yet another player coming in from Chelsea, he’s an Arsenal player now. Scrutiny of the deal should apply to those higher up, we can make our judgements on what he brings to the team and how he performs on the pitch. And obviously I hope he’s a real success because that would increase our chances of lifting trophies. There was a lot of noise, some of it pretty unseemly, before this became official – but the player deserves a clean slate to show what he can do.
The big question for me is where is he going to play? £48m is a lot to spend on someone who is, ostensibly, back up for Bukayo Saka, but Arsenal have made it clear, publicly and behind the scenes too, that he is not viewed simply as an expensive deputy for our best player. Mikel Arteta says:
Noni is an exciting and powerful young player, with his performances and numbers in recent seasons being of consistently high quality. He is one of the most talented wide forward players in the Premier League. His arrival will really improve our squad – we’re all thrilled to have him here.
Perhaps a touch of over-egging the pudding, but he definitely has some qualities/traits that we don’t have a lot of in this squad. And the player himself hinted that there’s scope for him to play on both sides, rather than just fill-in for Saka when he needs a rest:
I try and be a dual threat from the left and from the right. Of course, it’s a little different when I play on the left or when I play on the right, but it doesn’t really matter to me where I play. I only really have one thought in my mind when I get the ball to feet or in space, it is just to line up the full-back and go past him, so that’s definitely one of my main strengths.
He’s quick, he likes a dribble, he loves taking shots, and in those aspects of his game he’s a high volume player. Like almost every player, there are other aspects that might need a bit of work, but perhaps this is the right place for him to take another step in his career. He’s only 23, and I think there is something to the observation that the environment at Chelsea isn’t always conducive to getting the best out of players. He did ok there, but Arsenal will be looking for a lot more that. If we’re going to go and win a title, we need more than that.
It’s an interesting signing too because there have been some questions about his character, and some small disciplinary issues during his time at Chelsea. Typically, those are things that make Mikel Arteta wary of a signing, but you have to imagine the manager and those involved in getting this deal done have done their due diligence there. Regardless, it’s a fresh start at a new club, where he joins up with international teammates like Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka who have given Arteta their own feedback on how he trains and applies himself etc.
I will say he would not have been high on my list of targets at the start of the summer, but I really do hope he’s a success. This may not be the case in terms of how he’s used, but having a really quick left-footed winger as an option for the left-hand side gives us another tactical option too. He can obviously play that Saka back-up role, which I think is important, but when we inevitably face teams who set-up in a low block and defend deep, having at least one winger who can go outside rather than come inside most often on their strong foot could be a useful weapon. So, let’s see what he can do.
For more on him, you can read Phil Costa’s profile piece here, and for our Patreon members – as we do for every new signing – we have a podcast dedicated to our new player in which we discuss his strengths, weaknesses, and everything else. Check it out here, and if you’re not a member you can sign up for just $6 per month + VAT where applicable.
Right, let’s see what today brings, and it seems that Cristhian Mosquera’s announcement must be close. Have a good one!
