Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice has backed new singing Noni Madueke to prove doubters wrong about his move to the club, Afrosport reports.
The 23-year-old England winger of Nigerian heritage sealed a £52 million move from rivals Chelsea last week and was met with a lot of criticism from Gunners fans as he was not considered a favourite at Stamford Bridge having scoring 20 goals and provided nine assists in 92 competitive outings since he joined from PSV Eindhoven in January 2023.
Rice, however lept in defence of his new teammate, asserting Madueke is exactly the kind of player the Arsenal needs.
“He’s hungry, he wants to play for Arsenal and that’s the type of players we want. It’s so positive,” he said after Wednesday’s pre-season friendly against AC Milan.
“He’s going to shock a lot of people and I can’t wait for him to come.
“People have been speaking internally – the players, the staff. We know the player that we’re getting and we’re really looking forward to having him at our club. It’s going to be really exciting.”
Speaking about Madueke’s abilities, Rice added: “When you’re an attacking player and in your mind the first thought you have is to go past your defender, that’s an unbelievable trait to have.
“He’s going to bring that to the squad along with the other wingers we have. Let’s be real – last year we hardly had any depth in any areas.
“We played half the season pretty much with so many injuries, so to now be able to rotate and push in different competitions with different players is going to be really, really good. That’s key for us.”
Experience. Exuberance. Electricity. Noni Madueke. pic.twitter.com/CoMdpScqYi
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) July 19, 2025
Arsenal continue their pre-season preparations with fixtures against Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Villarreal before taking on Athletic Bilbao in the Emirates Cup.
