ESPN pundit Kieran Gibbs believes Noni Madueke “has something” and Chelsea should invest more time in the young forward.
Madueke arrived at Stamford Bridge in January from Dutch club PSV Eindhoven in a deal worth £29m.
The 21 year old has endured a difficult campaign with opportunities limited by injuries and has only scored four goals in 21 appearances across all competitions.
The England u21 international was back in the startling lineup for Wednesday’s 3-2 win over Leeds in the FA Cup but is finding it difficult to hold down a regular place in Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
Former Arsenal defender Gibbs has declared himself as a big fan of Madueke and when asked which players Chelsea should keep moving forward he told ESPN: “I think I would give Madueke another go. He’s got something. I can see something in him.”
Gibbs added that he thought the winger did well on Wednesday night and said: “I thought Madueke against Leeds was bright.”
There’s a lot of competition for places in the wide areas at Chelsea and Madueke is competing with Raheem Sterling, Cole Palmer, Mykhailo Mudryk and Christopher Nkunku for minutes.
It remains to be seen whether the winger keeps his place in the team for the trip to Brentford tomorrow afternoon but Mauricio Pochettino will need to be able to call on all members of his squad as the Blues aim to qualify for Europe and win the FA Cup.
Gibbs says he sees “something” but can’t seem to describe what that something is, lol! We’ve all seen that Madueke is capable of the occasional spark going forward, but he’s been far from consistent and his work rate out of possession has honestly been subpar. Take for example, his half-hearted defending in the build-up to Leeds second goal — absolute garbage!
I’m not one to write Madueke off by any stretch, but I don’t see how Gibbs or anyone can look at the Leeds game and make the case that he deserves a start against Brentford in front of Palmer, Jackson or Sterling.