Fabrizio Romano reveals Chelsea’s new ‘untouchable’

Robin Bairner

19 Sep 2024 02:40 CDT
3 min read

Fabrizio Romano says that there is a new ‘untouchable’ in Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea squad – and he has revealed that this player might have been sold during the summer transfer window had events transpired differently.

Article continues under the video

Noni Madueke has enjoyed an explosive start to the season with the Blues, and as a consequence, his status in the Chelsea squad has totally changed, Romano states.

Current ETV

Noni Madueke

M, F (R)

Chelsea

Noni Madueke

M, F (R)

Chelsea

ETV Range

€18.2M - €30.3M

Newcastle had taken an interest in signing him during the summer, and this may have come to something more definite had the Magpies elected to make a concrete move.

Instead, no offer was made and Madueke has gone on to score four goals in his first five matches of the campaign, albeit three arrived in a single game against Wolves with another coming against Servette in the Conference League.

Chelsea ‘super happy’ with Madueke

Romano has outlined how Chelsea’s transfer stance has changed for the 22-year-old.

“They never considered a loan or that kind of solution, but in case of receiving an important proposal, it was a possibility for them to sell the player,” Romano explained.

“That was at the end of June, and it came during that period you may remember when there was some confusion with Financial Fair Play (FFP) and we saw Newcastle and other clubs trying some swap deals around England to make the FFP rules work for them.

© IMAGO - Noni Madueke celebrates his hat-trick against Wolves

“So, at that point Madueke was one of the main targets for Newcastle. Then what happened? After that, Chelsea saw how special Madueke was in training and in official games under Enzo Maresca. There is the feeling inside Chelsea that Maresca and his staff have been able to change the mindset of Madueke - it’s something they’ve been working on in training and you can see it already in official games.”

Romano reports that Chelsea are now “super happy” with Madueke and have branded him an “untouchable” in the squad.

The former PSV winger, who has an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €24.3 million, is under contract with Chelsea until 2030.