The £30m Michael Olise alternative who could join Newcastle this summer

Now that the summer window is open, Newcastle United are actively seeking squad reinforcements. The signing of a new right winger is high on our list and The Athletic revealed last week that we’ve contacted Crystal Palace over their star winger Michael Olise.

As much as I’d absolutely love to sign him, other clubs in the mix – Chelsea, Man Utd, Bayern Munich and others – will be able to offer him higher wages, the chance to stay in London or Champions League football. In the case that Olise doesn’t sign, Newcastle could turn their eyes towards a player already at Chelsea: Noni Madueke.

Madueke splits opinion, and I can see why. In this article, I’ll firstly address his “attitude” which I often see criticised.

A clip of him arguing with Cole Palmer over a penalty often does the rounds anytime he’s mentioned, and I feel a lot of his critiques reference only this one moment. I’m not defending what he did, it was immature, but this type of thing does happen; it doesn’t make him inherently a bad person. His desperation to take the penalty in that moment I think comes from his strong desire to impress and succeed. Last season at Chelsea he was given less gametime than he’d have hoped, and Madueke fought to make the starting right-wing position his – something he achieved by the end of the season.

Not a lot of people know that at 16 years old he left Tottenham, moved country, and joined PSV for a better pathway, turning down Manchester United in the process. His youth coaches described him as a “mentality monster”. For me, Madueke has one goal in mind: be the best he can be. In my opinion, he has the potential to be one of the best wingers in the Premier League. If he came to Newcastle, was assured of his qualities, got consistent game-time, and could see himself progressing, I think a lot of his “attitude problems” wouldn’t exist here.

If Olise does go to Chelsea, this will mean less gametime for Madueke, someone who has struggled with a lack of gametime in his first Chelsea season. When he has played, he’s registered eight goals, including two penalties, and three assists in 17.67 90s, which isn’t a bad return for a first season – particularly when his Chelsea side struggled stylistically throughout large parts of their season.

Before joining Chelsea, he averaged a goal contribution (goal or assist) every 106 minutes at PSV Eindhoven; very impressive given he played there between the ages of 18 to 21.

A lot of his goal threat comes from his deadly left-foot, which he loves coming inside and shooting with. He’s comfortable receiving between the lines, and I love how direct he is. His first intention is always to go towards goal and at his defender. On top of scoring great goals with his stronger left-foot, Madueke can also score with his weaker right:

Noni Madueke applies the finishing touch to a brilliant team move and Chelsea double their advantage 💥 pic.twitter.com/wHbvkwrOBU

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) December 30, 2023

Madueke has massive confidence in himself, and is desperate to score goals; seen in his England U21 performance against Luxembourg. However this desperation can be to his detriment, sometimes making greedy decisions:

Madueke is physically a fantastic athlete for many reasons. Firstly, his strength. He’s great at bouncing off players and can take physical contact very well. Secondly, his running power is insane, which is a massive part of his game. He can easily glide in front of defenders, which helps him create goal-scoring opportunities.

This running power is a big part of his game, and he often uses it to go down the outside of a defender. I love when a winger can go both ways – it offers so much extra threat:

In terms of profile, he’d fit Newcastle very well: capable of holding the width, receiving in the half-space, and coming inside and offering lots of threat.

Creatively, he can definitely improve. His expected assists, while being better than Almiron’s, is still not great, sitting at 0.17 per90. I think however, with Chelsea’s problems last season, this can be unerstood. Before at PSV, it was 0.68 per90:

When coming inside, he sometimes rushes creative decisions, which I noted in his game against Luxembourg U21s. This is an area of his game I feel he can improve on:

His injury record at PSV was previously a concern, but it seems at Chelsea he’s gotten over these, only missing 21 days this season, in comparison to Almiron with 34 days missed, Salah with 39, and Saka with 34.

For Newcastle, I’d probably still take Mbeumo over Madueke, but Brentford will demand massive money, especially if Toney goes, which he likely will. I’d imagine if Olise does end up at Chelsea, Madueke will be then be sold for squad-building reasons, and I think he’d be available for less than Mbeumo.

It’s clear however that if we are asking about Olise, then we are willing to spend big on a RW target. For that reason, I’d definitely test the waters on Mbeumo before  enquiring about Madueke. However, Madueke would be a great option and someone I wouldn’t rule out.

To summarise, Madueke would be a great option for Newcastle at RW. There are better options on the market, but Madueke is fantastic and would be a great buy in any case. His skillset is that of an elite winger: reliable output, top physical levels, ability to dominate defenders 1v1, good ball-retention, technically secure, two-way threat, and more.

If Newcastle United were to buy him, and iron out his flaws, which I believe is doable, then we would have a incredible winger in Noni Madueke.