Chelsea have upped their asking price for Arsenal target Noni Madueke having taken note of Anthony Elanga’s impending move to Newcastle United.
The Nottingham Forest winger, whose career has been on an upward trajectory since leaving Manchester United two years ago, arrived at Newcastle’s training centre on Wednesday ahead of a planned medical.
Eddie Howe is prepared to sanction a £55million deal to sign the Sweden international who cost less than half of that amount when he moved from Old Trafford to the City Ground.
Chelsea, meanwhile, were originally understood to have valued Madueke at £50m but, in light of the fee Forest are set to receive, are ready to add an extra £5m to their valuation of the former PSV Eindhoven star, according to The Telegraph.
Arsenal have already agreed personal terms with the 23-year-old but it remains to be seen whether or not a club-to-club agreement can be reached.
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The Athletic, meanwhile, reports that talks are now underway between the London rivals with Arsenal having carried out background checks on a player who has failed to convince at Stamford Bridge under both Enzo Maresca and his predecessor Mauricio Pochettino.
Speaking about Madueke’s future during Chelsea’s participation at the Club World Cup, Chelsea’s current manager said: ‘Noni has been very important for us during this season.
‘Today, again, he has been important. But my message to the players and to the club is that I want just players that are happy to be with us.
‘The ones that are not happy, they are free to go. It’s not for Noni, it’s for all the players we have.
‘But again, Noni has been very good during the season and very good tonight.’
Arsenal fans don’t want Madueke
Madueke came on as a second half substitute just past the midway point in last night’s 2-0 semi-final win over Fluminense but his performance neatly summarised his two-and-a-half year career with the west London club.
While there were flashes of promise, he coughed up possession needlessly on several occasions and was guilty of spurning opportunities to pass to a teammate who may have been better placed.
Given Mikel Arteta’s increasingly pragmatic approach, it remains to be seen who well suited he’d be to this current incarnation of Arsenal.
Moreover, the question of where he fits in remains an intriguing one with Bukayo Saka having the right flanked locked down and Madueke having hardly featured on the left wing which is currently occupied by Gabrie Martinelli.
And, while this is not his fault, Arsenal’s habit of buying Chelsea cast offs in recent years, with little or no success, has hardly endeared him to his likely new fanbase.