Slowly and then all at once would be one way to describe Arsenal’s summer thus far.
While their rivals were making signing after signing last month, Mikel Arteta’s side appeared rather sluggish, going back and forth between Viktor Gyokeres and Benjamin Sesko without making much progress towards either one.
However, over the last week or so, things have begun to change, with Kepa Arizabalage through the door, Christian Norgaard’s arrival feeling like a matter of time, and an avalanche of reports linking the club to Crystal Palace superstar Eberechi Eze.
Furthermore, Andrea Berta and Co appear intent on bringing in more Premier League talent this month, with reports now linking the club to someone who could be a dream teammate for Eze.
Arsenal target Premier League stars
While Arsenal are more than happy to shop abroad, the club are also no stranger to picking up players from closer to home, and so far this summer, they have been linked with several Premier League stars, like Morgan Rogers and Anthony Elanga.
Transfer Focus
Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.
The former was superb for Aston Villa last season, racking up a tally of 14 goals and 15 assists in 54 games, but such a great campaign has seen his price tag soar, and reports have suggested he could cost the Gunners as much as £70m.
Likewise, Elanga once again proved his worth for Nottingham Forest in 24/25, racking up 18 goal involvements in 43 games, which in turn has seen his potential price tag reach £60m.
However, there is another, slightly cheaper, but still exciting Premier League attacker who is reportedly in the Gunners’ sights this summer: Noni Madueke.
At least that’s according to a recent report from Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg, which reaffirms that Arsenal are very much interested in the Chelsea star.
The report goes a step further, though, claiming that the North Londoners are now in talks with the dynamic winger, having submitted their contract offer to the player, who is valued at close to £50m, according to other reports. What makes this move doubly interesting is that the player actually spent time in the Spurs academy as a youngster.
It could be a costly and complicated transfer to get over the line, but given Madueke’s ability and potential, it might be one worth fighting for, especially as he could be a perfect teammate for Eze.
Why Eze would love Madueke
So, it might be somewhat simplistic, but one of the reasons Eze might love to play with Madueke is down to his output, as that’s what’s going to help the Palace star’s own goal and assist numbers.
For example, despite not always being one of the first names on the teamsheet at Chelsea last season, the exciting winger was still able to amass a decent haul of 11 goals and five assists in 2589 minutes of football, spread across 44 appearances.
That means the 23-year-old averaged a goal or assist every 161.81 minutes for the Blues, which isn’t too bad at all, and substantially better than Gabriel Martinelli’s average of a goal involvement every 222.75 minutes and even better than Leandro Trossard’s average of one every 172.75 minutes.
On top of being a fairly reliable scorer and provider of goals, the “unbelievable” forward, as dubbed by former manager Mauricio Pochettino, has also got some brilliant underlying numbers to his name, including some that would be music to Eze’s ears.
For example, FBref places him in the top 1% of attacking midfielders and wingers in Europe’s top five leagues for progressive carries and carries into the penalty area, the top 4% for touches in the opposition’s penalty area and many more, all per 90. With those qualities in mind, it’s hardly a surprise that some within the game have said that he’s “very similar to Saka.”
Progressive Carries
6.82
Top 1%
Carries into Penalty Area
4.12
Top 1%
GCA (Defensive Action)
0.04
Top 4%
Touches (Att Pen)
8.15
Top 4%
Non-Penalty xG
0.43
Top 6%
Shots Total
3.54
Top 7%
Progressive Carrying Distance
154.28
Top 7%
Shots on Target
1.33
Top 8%
Now, those three statistics could be particularly important for the Eagles ace, as they suggest the Chelsea man is truly elite at getting the ball into seriously dangerous areas, which in turn could result in better and more chances for his teammates.
Ultimately, from his output to what’s going on under the hood, Madueke looks like someone who could explode in the right environment, and therefore, we reckon he’d be an incredible teammate for Eze at Arsenal.
He's more exciting than Eze: Arsenal close in on signing £69m "monster"
The goalscorer would be a bigger game-changer for Arsenal than Eze.
ByJack Salveson HolmesJul 2, 2025