Mikel Arteta hails ‘exceptional’ Arsenal star after win over Nottingham Forest

Arsenal signed Noni Madueke from Chelsea in the summer transfer window (Picture: BeanymanSports)

Mikel Arteta has hailed Noni Madueke for his ‘exceptional’ performance in the 3-0 Premier League victory over Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

Madueke was a constant threat down the right wing for the Gunners, with the summer recruit named in the XI due to Bukayo Saka being out injured.

Arsenal signed Madueke in a £52m deal from Chelsea in the summer transfer window and he’s firmly hit the ground running in north London.

‘The new ones that started, five of them today, I was really impressed with them,’ Arsenal manager Arteta said in his post-match press conference.

‘You can sense and feel that there are new relationships flourishing there. They are going to give us different things to be unpredictable.

‘Noni – I thought he was exceptional. We played a front three that had never played [together] before. Overall I am very happy.’

Meanwhile, Madueke has responded to being labelled ‘selfish’ by Arsenal legend Martin Keown.

Noni Madueke was one of Arsenal’s best players in Saturday’s victory (Picture: Getty)

Following the Gunners’ win at the Emirates, Madueke and Eberechi Eze walked over to the TNT Sports punditry team for a post-match interview.

At one point, Keown turned to Madueke and told him directly to his face that he was ‘worried’ over the player’s summer move to north London from Chelsea because he has a tendency to sometimes be ‘selfish’ in matches.

‘I was worried about you when you came because I thought sometimes you can be a little bit selfish,’ Keown told Madueke.

Noni Madueke had an awkward interaction with Martin Keown (Picture: TNT Sports)

‘But now you seem to have really good balance to your play. The decisions you’ve been making have been outstanding.’

Keown continued to speak – but he was cut off by TNT Sports presenter Lynsey Hipgrave – who turned to Madueke and said: ‘Feel free to tell him he’s talking rubbish.’

Fellow football pundit Peter Crouch could be seen awkwardly laughing before Madueke responded to Keown’s criticism.

‘I feel like it’s important to keep the self belief that you can get the ball and just do it yourself as a winger,’ Madueke said.

‘I think you need that. But of course like you said, I’m playing with such top players, it’s important for me to try and find them as much as I try and play my own type of game.’

Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres, who scored in the 3-0 win over Forest, praised both Madueke and Eze after the match.

‘Those two are amazing in their positions, they always do something special,’ Gyokeres told TNT Sports.

‘We definitely saw that today.’

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