Chelsea forward Noni Madueke says that a loan spell next season would be "impossible," making it clear that he's relishing the opportunity to work under new Blues boss Mauricio Pochettino.
Madueke, 21, joined Chelsea from Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven in the January transfer window for a cool £30.5million. After a slow start to life at Stamford Bridge, the England under-21 international is now about to embark on a European Championship campaign with the Three Lions.
Whenever he gets back, though, Madueke will be raring to go in a bid to impress Pochettino, and he's certainly not thinking about a temporary stint away from West London. "A loan spell would be impossible for both parties," the Barnet-born winger explained, speaking to the Evening Standard.
"I've been brought in and there’s a plan for me at the club. I finished the season well, so next season is just about kicking on in the team and showing everyone the real me." A confident Madueke added: "The expectation for me from the club and myself is for me to play - and play well - next year, and to keep developing as a player and a person."
Having struggled to find his feet under previous manager Graham Potter, the 21-year-old managed to get himself in favour with interim boss Frank Lampard. Making 12 appearances before the end of Chelsea's nightmare campaign, in which they finished 12th in the Premier League, Madueke scored his first goal for the Blues during a bruising 3-1 defeat to Arsenal in May.
Lampard hailed the starlet following his display against Bournemouth four days later, as this time Chelsea came away with a 2-1 victory. "Noni was very sharp, considering he was not so well on Wednesday and Thursday," Lampard revealed after the match. "I thought he was really good against Arsenal in a tough game and got his goal.
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"And again today, he's got a fantastic one-on-one ability to go past people. I like him as a lad, he's got really good energy. He will know that because he's hungry, and I want that. It's been a breath of fresh air, him coming in and he's training well to deserve that."
Ex-Arsenal striker Ian Wright echoed Lampard's praise but also pointed out an aspect of Madueke's game which still needs to be improved. "The problem with him is his final ball," Wright declared on Match of the Day. "He holds it for too long and he’s going to have to learn quickly to make better decisions in that instance.
"He's got this kind of ability to go past people and as time goes by he will feed it into the box, he'll start to get that in his game, and once he does, Chelsea will have a real prospect on their hands."
While Madueke's first training session under Pochettino won't be for a few weeks yet, the incoming Blues manager will be keeping a close eye on his performances at the under-21 Euros, which for England kicks off against the Czech Republic on Thursday.
