Former Tottenham man Noni Madueke has seemingly aimed a sly dig at his former employers by stating that there is no better club in London than Chelsea.
Madueke joined Tottenham’s academy when he was just 12 years of age and was highly thought of during his time at the club, even making his Under-18s debut when he was just 15 years of age (Wikipedia).
However, he decided to leave the Lilywhites in 2018 to join PSV Eindhoven in search of regular first-team football.
It did not take long for the youngster to break into the Eredivisie giants’ senior side and make a real impression, with some reports even suggesting last summer that Tottenham explored the possibility of bringing him back to North London (90 min).
Chelsea eventually paid £29m to snap up the 20-year-old last month and the winger has made just three appearances for the Blues since his switch.
The youngster was an unused substitute for Graham Potter’s men in their 2-0 loss at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday but he did aim a subtle dig at the Lilywhites before the London derby.
Madueke told Sky Sports about his switch to Stamford Bridge: “Most players go through a decision-making phase, but for me, there was no decision to make.
“I wanted to come back home and I wanted to play in the Premier League, and what better club to choose if you’re from London than Chelsea, it was a no-brainer really.”
Spurs Web Opinion
I do not think this comment is likely to get under the skin of too many Spurs fans as players are expected to speak in glowing terms of the club that they play for.
However, Madueke has taken a major risk by moving to a club like Chelsea at this stage of his career and his development will be impacted if he continues to struggle for game time.
That is particularly true given the uncertainty over Graham Potter’s future as there is no guarantee that the next Chelsea boss will show faith in the 20-year-old ahead of some of the other big-name attackers at the club.