Madueke's former coach reveals why Chelsea star is struggling
Tom Weber
- Updated: 18 Oct 2023 11:53 BST
- 3 min read
Former PSV coach Boudewijn Zenden has revealed why Noni Madueke is struggling at Chelsea.
Madueke arrived as part of Chelsea's ridiculous spending spree last term when the Blues shelled out a whopping €35 million after he had starred for Dutch side PSV. In the Netherlands, the youngster had put in some scintillating performances and looked like one of the biggest prospects in England's talent pool.
Since his Chelsea switch, however, things have gone south for him. The 21-year-old scored once in 645 minutes of Premier League football last season, while only featuring in 43 minutes so far this time around. An injury kept him on the sidelines for two matches, but even before, he barely played under Pochettino.
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Asked after a recent win over a poor Brighton side in the Carabao Cup why the now-fully-fit Madueke didn't feature, the Argentine merely said: "It's about choice, it's about choice. Election."
Former Chelsea player Boudewijn Zenden, who worked with Madueke at PSV, believes that the move to Stamford Bridge came much too early in his career for the young winger.
What did Zenden say?
Speaking to Dutch outlet Soccernews, Zenden said of Madueke: “I saw him progress from the youth to the first team at PSV. He developed extremely well, but I have my doubts about the switch. Wasn't it too soon?"
"Noni had good games at PSV but was not an undisputed starter. He hasn't had a season where he played 32 games. While he was doing well, he got injured and was thrown back again."
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"These are phases that you have to go through as a player before you have arrived. He is clearly not an established player yet but certainly one with enormous potential. I understand why Chelsea bought him, also because he is a homegrown player. But he will have to play more minutes to develop further. If that doesn't work out at Chelsea, I can see him being loaned out.”
