Rio Ferdinand tells ‘hating’ Arsenal fans to apologise to Noni Madueke

Noni Madueke has made an eye-catching start to his Arsenal career (Picture: Getty)

Rio Ferdinand has instructed all those Arsenal fans who didn’t want Noni Madueke at their football club to apologise following the winger’s bright start to his Gunners career.

Eyebrows were raised when Mikel Arteta sanctioned a £52million deal in the summer to sign a player who showed only flashes of his true potential over the course of two-and-half turbulent years at Chelsea.

With Bukayo Saka blocking his route to a place in Arsenal’s starting XI, the 23-year-old began his Arsenal career in his less favoured position on the left flank.

An injury to Arsenal’s talisman has, however, presented Madueke with opportunities to thrive on the opposite wing for both club and country.

The former PSV Eindhoven star impressed on England duty over the course of the international break and followed up his first goal for England with a man of the match display against Nottingham Forest last weekend.

‘I just want to give the haters, the naysayers who were hammering Madueke (a message),’ Ferdinand told his YouTube channel.

‘The starboy Saka is out and Madueke has gone over to that right-hand side and said ‘guys I’m going ot give you something a bit different, there’s a different sauce coming, but I’m going to show you something’.

Noni Madueke is likely to start for Arsenal against Athletic Bilbao tonight (Picture: Getty)

‘He’s delivered in a game and Arsenal fans are now salivating over him and saying they love him, he’s our saviour. Those fans need to come out now, those naysayers and negative guys need to come out now and say sorry.’

With Saka still recovering from a hamstring injury, Madueke is likely to play a prominent role again this evening as Arteta’s side begin their Champions League campaign against Athletic Bilbao.

‘Yeah, like the rest of the teams, that have done the same [strengthen] and continue to do that and have won it on many occasions,’ said the Arsenal boss when asked to evaluate the level of opposition in the competition.

Arsenal being their Champions League campaign this evening (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

‘That’s the aim in the beginning but we all know that it’s going to be a really long journey. The margins in this competition are super small and you have to be at your very best from day one to give yourself the best possible chance.’

When asked what he had learned from last season’s run to the semi final stage, he added: ‘That we are good enough, that we can compete against any opposition on the day.

‘And on top of that, two things have to go your way. You need to have a full squad available when it comes to the most critical moments in the season, and then the ball has to go in at the right moment or with the right decision, it has to because the margins are so small.’

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