Why has Noni Madueke's 23/24 season not gone to plan so far?

What is going on with Noni Madueke at the moment and what does the future hold? (With some sourced information)

Noni Madueke was arguably Chelsea’s brightest spark in the second half of last season.

In a six-month period that was utterly depressing to watch, he provided Chelsea fans with hope for the future. 

But he hasn’t had the start to the 2023/24 season that he would’ve liked, which has sparked debate within the Chelsea fanbase and the wider media. People are wondering what has gone wrong and possibly what the future holds. 

Going back to the very start of the new campaign, Madueke travelled out late to join the squad for pre-season over in the United States. We thought was due to his involvement in England winning the UEFA U21 European Championships with England, however, Levi Colwill travelled and also played a massive role in England’s success. 

It later came out that Madueke was nursing a knock he got during that tournament and subsequently didn’t play a single minute in pre-season, which is detrimental to anyone's upcoming campaign, let alone a 21-year-old still trying to impress and find his feet.

He then didn’t make an appearance for Chelsea in the full season until we played AFC Wimbledon in the League Cup where he scored and was given the man of the match award. 

Since then he’s really struggled for minutes.

He has played: 

• 28’ vs Nottingham Forest

• 0’ vs Bournemouth

• 0’ vs Aston Villa

• 0’ vs Brighton

• 1’ vs Fulham

• 0’ vs Burnley

• 6’ vs Arsenal

For a player of his quality, the fact he’s not getting minutes is a cause for concern and it’s having a negative impact on his game as his recent cameo vs Arsenal showed. 

People might speculate that he’s fallen out with Mauricio Pochettino after Madueke was caught partying after our goalless draw with Bournemouth, but during Chelsea’s squad photo content on social media, there was a classy embrace between the two that made it look like all the tension had been dealt with. 

Others might think that Pochettino simply doesn’t rate him. Poch was the Tottenham manager when Madueke was let go by their academy so there might be a long-standing issue there but I highly doubt that’s the case. 

For me, there are a couple of reasons why it hasn’t clicked for Madueke at Chelsea this season. 

Firstly, he missed pre-season which is the main time to impress the manager and work your way into his plans, it’s also key for gaining fitness which we all know is one of Pochettino’s biggest demands.

Secondly, he has a lot of talented players to compete with for his spot in the team. Raheem Sterling and Cole Palmer are both in top form at the moment and both typically operate from the right-hand side. 

We also have Angelo Gabriel to come back next year who is a left-footed right-winger just like Madueke and has been in top form for Strasbourg in Ligue 1, he was recently awarded Ligue 1 young player of the month too. 

Even though it’s still a little while away, Kendry Paez will be joining Chelsea in 2025 and he, again, is a left-footed player who plays off the right. He’s already scored for Ecuador at 16 years old and is a player that I simply can’t wait to see at Chelsea, but it makes you think, does Noni fit into these plans and have a future? 

Madueke presents something of an enigma as he’s absolutely ripping it up for England’s U21s this season. He’s scoring for fun and he’s really turning into a leader in that side.

This tells me he’s still got so much to offer, but I just can’t see him breaking into Chelsea’s side for the time being. 

An SPTC source has told us that Madueke could be loaned out by Chelsea in one of the next couple of windows.

We’re all desperate for him to succeed at Chelsea and I am not writing him off at all, but with more in-form players ahead of him, maybe he does need to have a six-month stint elsewhere to find his feet again. 

He’s a likeable and popular member of our squad and I’m hoping for him to bounce back from his tough start to the season. 

Is it a case of Noni waiting for his chance, or would it be better to get him some consistent minutes for the rest of the season? Do let us know what you think. 

By Will Reyner