Chelsea star Noni Madueke makes interesting comment about Bukayo Saka ahead of facing Arsenal

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After his improvement at Chelsea this season, Noni Madueke has now been joining Arsenal star Bukayo Saka in the England squad of late.

22-year-old Madueke has become something of an understudy for the Arsenal winger during Lee Carsley’s brief tenure, a player who clearly has a lot of potential.

Of course, only 23 himself, Saka also still has so much room to improve at Arsenal, even if he’s already the club’s most important player.

Like Martin Odegaard or William Saliba, Saka demonstrated just how crucial he’s become for Mikel Arteta during his recent injury return against Liverpool.

Saka stole the show, something he’ll also hope to do at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Noni Madueke says Bukayo Saka was a ‘great player’ even as a youngster

That being said, ahead of the meeting, Madueke has made some interesting comments about Saka.

Speaking via Mirror Sport, Madueke spoke about facing Saka in youth football, saying he’s still the same ‘great player’ that he used to face when playing for Tottenham Hotspur.

READ MORE: Leandro Trossard suggests Arsenal made a mistake not signing ‘top player’ who joined Chelsea instead

Madueke played for Crystal Palace and Spurs at youth level and enjoyed some fierce London derbies playing against Arsenal’s ‘starboy’.

Madueke said: “Even as an academy player, the north London derbies were always super competitive.

“Bukayo was always a great player. He was a goal threat, fast, strong and always made the right decisions – just like he does now.

“Everyone has a different path. My path was probably less conventional going to Holland but even his path, I’m sure he had to work super, super, super hard to get to where he is as well.

“It just goes to show that there are different routes to the top but the mainstay is that you just have to work as hard as you can and believe in yourself and that’s what I’ve done and I’m sure he did that as well.”

Bukayo Saka will benefit from Martin Odegaard return agaisnt Chelsea

Recently, Micah Richards claimed that Saka has been suffering because of Odegaard’s absence, a statement that’s hard to disagree with.

Teams, like Inter Milan and Newcastle United, have been free to double-up or even triple-up on Saka on the right, without the fear of leaving Odegaard free to dictate play.

Mikel Merino has struggled at Arsenal thus far – he understandably can’t mimic the creativity of his Norwegian captain just yet when playing alongside Saka.

And whilst Arsenal are missing Emile Smith Rowe right now, at least according to the club’s supporters, Odegaard’s return should remedy the situation.

A big test for Arsenal, who currently find themselves in a fairly unfamiliar league position.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
4	BrightonBrighton	11	5	4	2	19	15	4	19
5	ChelseaChelsea	10	5	3	2	20	12	8	18
6	ArsenalArsenal	10	5	3	2	17	11	6	18
7	FulhamFulham	11	5	3	3	16	13	3	18