Romano: player was so “special” in training that Chelsea changed their whole transfer plans | OneFootball

Noni Madueke is among Chelsea’s top performers this season. He did well on the USA tour the other friendlies, then bagged a hattrick against Wolves, securing his place in the first XI.

It’s quite the turnaround, given as recently as a month ago he was being linked with transfers away from the club. Pedro Neto had just signed and it felt like Madueke was being squeezed out after a relatively disappointing 18 months at the club.

But very quickly he turned things around, and he’s now a key figure.

In an exclusive column for CaughtOffside today, Fabrizio Romano explains a bit about some potential moves and how they didn’t happen.

Noni Madueke celebrates a goal for Chelsea (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)

Madueke’s sliding doors summer

“There were a lot of stories about Noni Madueke’s future at Chelsea this summer, and it’s true that there was at one point a moment when the Blues considered selling Madueke. 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,” the insider revealed.

“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.”

It just goes to show how important those friendly games can be. In this case, Madueke turned around his spell at Chelsea – and potentially seismically shifted the direction of his career just by impressing his new coach.

Now he’s considered “untouchable” according to Romano – although given the competition, he will have to continue performing well.