Noni Madueke hailed as ‘better than Bukayo Saka’ by former England international

Former England international Paul Parker has compared Noni Madueke favourably with his Arsenal team-mate Bukayo Saka and questioned the wisdom of Chelsea’s decision to sell the winger to their London rivals.

Madueke, who completed a £48.5m move from Stamford Bridge to the Emirates this summer, scored his first goal for England in an impressive display against Serbia on Tuesday night.

The 23-year-old’s eye-catching contribution in Belgrade sustained the momentum of his initial performances for Arsenal, where he was ostensibly brought in to provide cover for Saka on the right side of Mikel Arteta’s front three.

Parker believes Madueke, who has started two of Arsenal’s three Premier League games so far, deserves to be recognised as more than just an understudy, arguing that his pace and ability to beat a man mark him out as one of the country’s finest wide attackers.

‘It was a strange decision for Chelsea to let him go’

“Chelsea let Noni Madueke go to Arsenal even though he’s one of England’s best wingers, and he was probably their best player against Andorra,” said the former England and Manchester United full-back. 

“Against Liverpool I think he looked really positive. I thought it was a strange decision for Chelsea to let him go. 

“With the way he plays, I actually think he’s better than Bukayo Saka. Saka doesn’t go on the outside, he doesn’t have a great change of pace, and he doesn’t frighten defenders.

“Madueke does strike that fear into defenders because he wants to run at players and go past them.”

Saka is currently sidelined with an injury to his left hamstring suffered in Arsenal’s 5-0 home win over Leeds last month. It marked another setback for the 24-year-old, who tore his right hamstring against Crystal Palace last December and subsequently underwent surgery, missing 19 games.

‘The problem is that Bukayo Saka is like a god to Arsenal fans’

Parker, however, whose clean sweep of domestic honours at Old Trafford included two Premier League titles, believes Saka has become untouchable in the eyes of Arsenal supporters, enabling him to pick and choose when he plays.

“The problem is that Saka is like a god to Arsenal fans,” the 61-year-old told WhichBookie. “He knows he’s going to play every game. 

“We used to call [former Manchester United midfielder] Paul Ince ‘The 11th hour’, because, like Saka, he’d always be out injured until just before the game, then he’d declare himself fit. That makes everyone say, ‘Oh, isn’t he brave.’ Saka is the same.

“I just don’t get the hype around him, I really don’t understand it.” 

With Saka sidelined, Madueke will once again be in the frame to start for Arsenal when they host Nottingham Forest at the Emirates on Saturday lunchtime.