Goodbye Madueke: Chelsea Sell Another Player to Arsenal

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Noni Madueke
Noni Madueke (Vitalii Vitleo | Shutterstock)

Rarely a day goes by without Chelsea buying a player, selling one, or at the very least being linked with transfer activity. The improvement the club made in the Premier League last season and, more than that, the way they dispatched PSG in the final of the Club World Cup, suggests their seemingly frenzied dealings are paying dividends.

Fans of other clubs wonder how the Blues can spend so lavishly and yet still work within the Profit & Sustainability Rules (PSR). Whilst critics might point to some slightly dubious deals regarding hotels and the women’s team, player trading is also a big part of the club’s new model. Chelsea have bought a large number of players, but they have also sold many too.

Their latest (depending on when you read this – things move quickly at this time of year!) big outgoing transfer saw wide forward Noni Madueke join Arsenal on the 18th of July 2025. The fee should rise to well over £50m, meaning the Blues will make a handsome profit of around £25m on the player.

Madueke’s Time at Chelsea


The Blues signed the Barnet-born player from PSV Eindhoven in the winter window of the 2022/23 campaign. He joined on the 20th of January 2023 on a lengthy (and of course in no way PSR-motivated) seven and a half year contract. His first goal for his new team came towards the end of the season… against Arsenal.

He played 12 times that first season, and the goal against the Gunners was the only one he managed. In 2023/24, he became more of a regular feature for the Blues, and 34 appearances brought a decent tally of eight goals. On the 29th of August, he received his first senior international call-up and made his debut against Finland at Wembley on the 10th of September.

Madueke has played for England at U16, U17, U18 and U21 levels. He has played 20 times for the under-21s, scoring seven times and helping them win the Euros in 2023. At the time of writing, he has played seven times for the full England team, though he is yet to score a goal.

Four days before being called up to the full England squad, Madueke netted his first senior hat-trick. His treble came in a 6-2 rout away at Wolves and helped him earn his spot in the squad for the games against Finland and Ireland.

In the 2024/25 campaign, he played 46 times for Chelsea, including 32 Premier League appearances and five at the Club World Cup. He reached double digits in goals for the first time in his career, bagging 11 in total. He also added five assists, but in total, he only played 2,647 minutes (the equivalent of less than 30 entire games), as he was used from the bench or withdrawn more often than he might have hoped.

His campaign was somewhat disrupted by injury, too, with a hamstring issue seeing him miss games in February and March. Prior to that, he had been used particularly sparingly in December and was dropped from the squad against Fulham on Boxing Day (2024), with boss Enzo Maresca questioning his work rate.

Whilst there has been no major fall-out between player and manager, or player and club, a combination of factors led to his transfer to Arsenal. There appears to be some debate as to whether or not the player asked to leave, with Maresca stating that it was Madueke who initiated the transfer. On paper though, it seems to be a decent enough deal for all parties concerned, though of course, time will tell if Arsenal are happy with their latest Chelsea cast-off!

Madueke Latest Arteta Arsenal Addition


Over the years there have been many players to have played for both Chelsea and Arsenal. Transfers have seen footballers moving both ways too, with big names such as Ashley Cole, Cesc Fabregas, Nicolas Anelka, Petr Cech, William Gallas and Olivier Giroud just some of the stars that have played for London’s biggest two clubs in recent times.

However, if we look more specifically just at the last five years or so, it seems that Gunners boss Mike Arteta has developed a bit of an affinity for signing Chelsea men. Indeed, Madueke is the sixth player that the Basque manager has enticed to head north and swap Stamford Bridge for the Emirates. Whilst Gunners supporters – or maybe they were Russian bots, who knows? – were tweeting #NoToMadueke, Arteta was no doubt imploring them to “trust the process”.

The Arsenal manager said that the reason he had signed so many players from the Blues was “Probably because they have some great players, and a lot of players,” adding, “But, yeah, we try to focus on the players that we want to sign, regardless of the club they are in.” Obviously, from a player’s point of view, it is a straightforward switch, but as we can see, his success rate on these deals is not exactly amazing.

Kai Havertz

Havertz never really settled in at the Bridge, and so fans were happy when the Blues managed to get £65m for him. The deal took place in June 2023. Havertz managed 14 goals for his new club in his first campaign and 15 (from just 36 games) last term. He is one of the more successful Chelsea acquisitions Arteta has made.

Jorginho

Jorginho joined Arsenal in January 2023 for a low fee of £12m. He played 79 times in total across two and a half seasons, scoring two goals. He joined Brazilian side Flamengo in June 2025.

Raheem Sterling

Sterling joined the Gunners on loan for the 2024/25 season and achieved very little. 28 games brought a single goal, and he seems set to leave the Blues permanently this summer, though not to Arsenal!

Willian

Brazilian attacker William joined Arsenal on the 14th of August 2020 on a three-year deal. He lasted just one, dismal season, and joined Corinthians in Brazil.

Kepa Arrizabalaga

Arrizabalaga was signed by Arteta just 17 days before Madueke, so it is too early to judge how that will work out. He seems unlikely to be anything more than a back-up keeper, though, but for just £5m, the 30-year-old may prove a decent addition.