Noni Madueke has been labelled 'one of the best young forward players in Europe' amid comparisons to former Chelsea star Arjen Robben. The 20-year-old joined the Blues from PSV in a deal which is thought to cost around £35million, penning a seven-and-a-half-year contract at Stamford Bridge.
Despite an injury-ridden campaign, his impressive displays had courted the attention of Europe's biggest clubs. But, Chelsea won the race; football.london understands that new technical director Christopher Vivell was a driving force behind signing Madueke, having previously tried to do so at RB Leipzig.
Despite having yet featured for the Blues, signing the winger already looks to be a bargain. Speaking to Sky Sports, Saul Isaksson-Hurst issued a glowing review of Madueke, tipping him to pick up from where Robben left off in west London.
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Isaksson-Hurst is a technical coach who has worked one-to-one with Madueke for the last two years. He said: "He is top. For me, he is one of the best young forward players in Europe, easily.
"A lot of focus has been on Cody Gakpo at PSV, because of the World Cup, but Noni is up there. He is one of the best, if not the best, because he is so dynamic, so strong in one-v-ones, so technically gifted, so athletic. Really, he's got the full package."
The specialist coach continued by explaining how Madueke developed a Robben-like 'super skill'. Isaksson-Hurst said: "Noni is an attacking wide player who likes to play on the right as an inverted winger, so one of his 'super skills' is cutting in on his left side, like Arjen Robben, and shooting from the edge of the box.
"We worked a lot on challenging and trying to develop his 'super skill' but I also talked to him about the space it opens up on his right side, on his weaker foot, which he has done a lot of work on himself over the last few years.
"You see when Robben played, defenders would overcompensate to make sure he didn't get them on the inside, but that opens up a lot of space on the outside, and we worked a lot on that, going in and then going out again, onto his weaker foot."
After a handful of days on the training pitches at Cobham, Chelsea fans will be desperate to get a glimpse of Madueke in action against Fulham on Friday, February 3. With Mykhailo Mudryk on the left, Graham Potter has the next Robben waiting to be used on the right.
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