£28.5m winger can’t get in Chelsea’s second despite strong preseason as Mudryk preferred | OneFootball

Chelsea’s team for tonight’s game against Servette is out, and as expected there are a host of changes.

In fact, only two players are left who started Sunday’s defeat to Man City, and there are 9 changes. But despite changing almost the entire team, one man remains in the cold – Noni Madueke.

Of course we all know the story with Ben Chilwell, Raheem Sterling, Trevoh Chalobah and the various others in the “bomb squad” being forced to train separately as the club looks to push them towards the exit. But Madueke had been an important player in preseason, and seemed to be in manager Enzo Maresca’s good books.

With Sterling out in the cold and new signing Joao Felix not yet ready to play, a heavily rotated team was Madueke’s chance to shine. Yet he’s stuck on the bench, just as he was on Sunday.

Ben Chilwell and Noni Madueke after Wrexham game

Red flags all over for Madueke

As it stands, we’re seeing no signs that the former PSV winger is being forced out like some of his colleagues. But he will surely be starting to worry already about his future here. He couldn’t have done much more than he did in preseason, scoring goals and playing regularly on the right wing, seeming to make the position his own, at least in the absence of Cole Palmer.

But it looks like the versatility of Pedro Neto, able to play on both wings, is going to end up hurting Madueke more than anyone. He performed far above Mykhailo Mudryk’s level on the USA tour, yet the Ukraine winger gets the nod before him, with Neto switched to the right.

The season is long and there will be many twists and turns to come – but this is the worst possible start for Madueke who would have hoped this was his chance to break out.