Arsenal’s win over Kairat Almaty had some supporters reflecting heavily on the 2025 summer transfer window.
Arsenal are through to the round of 16 in the Champions League, ending their league phase campaign with eight wins from eight.
It was a sublime league phase from the Gunners, who almost made history against Kairat Almaty.
While the match was celebratory, Arsenal would’ve known that they should’ve scored more goals after firing 25 shots on goal.
Five of the shots came from Noni Madueke, who had Arsenal fans talking on social media throughout the contest.
Who was Arsenal’s Man of the Match vs Kairat Almaty?
Arsenal fans question Noni Madueke transfer
Madueke completed an incredible eight dribbles against Kairat, but a familiar issue reared its head as a result.
The winger’s end product needs serious work, as right now, aside from exciting one-versus-one play, the summer signing isn’t producing a whole lot else.
As a result, Arsenal fans questioned what Andrea Berta and Mikel Arteta were thinking to spend over £50m on a winger who doesn’t guarantee goals or assists.
“Put Madueke on finishing drills for the next three months,” one X user wrote.
Another posted, “Watching Madueke genuinely makes me angry.”
How much will Noni Madueke be worth in 2030?
Talk turned to the price that Arsenal paid to sign the Englishman from Chelsea in the summer, given that it was so clear that the Gunners needed a left-sided winger of the highest quality.
“I will never understand signing Madueke!!! This guy is useless..Adama offers the same thing he is offering this team… Nelson was better than this.”
A fellow Arsenal fan on X agreed, “I swear to God I can’t believe we spent £52m on Madueke.”
In the summer, Arsenal fans protested against signing Madueke, and six months down the line, there is some evidence to support the question marks around his transfer.
“Even £15m would be questionable for Madueke based on some of these performances,” one fan posted on X.
Another even suggested that Berta should be looking for a refund, “Madueke. man I wish refunds were a thing in football. 52m, what were we thinking!”
As Madueke’s end product, once again, became a talking point, one supporter considered how different things could’ve been had Berta and Arteta invested elsewhere.
“Madueke is atrocious. £52m … £18m more got you Mbeumo.”
Madueke has a positive challenge at Arsenal
So, Madueke isn’t a prolific goalscorer or creator, but what he does have is potential, which, to some extent, makes up for his transfer fee.
He’s not the finished article, and while that’s what Arsenal truly needed to solve their wing options, him being an open book only allows for improvement.
Fill the blanks, if Noni Madueke had an end product he’d play like ________
All action no output for Noni 😫
What we saw against Kairat was a player with extraordinarily high potential who is crying out for his skill set to be refined.
A good way to describe Madueke’s performances at Arsenal is quantity over quality, as while he dominates in one-versus-one situations, the quality to conclude the move is rarely there.
Perspective is everything, as still only 23 years old, Madueke’s frustrating ways are also deeply encouraging.
Receive a digest of our best Arsenal content each week direct to your mailbox
