Raheem Sterling has been in the headlines because of his public outburst at the weekend, but it’s his Chelsea teammate that has a more valid reason to be angry right now.
Remarkably, Chelsea’s 2-0 home defeat to Manchester City on Sunday wasn’t the biggest story at the club over the weekend. Instead, the drama centred around Raheem Sterling, whose camp released a statement just before the Man City fixture seeking clarification on their client’s future because he was left out of the matchday squad.
The statement from Sterling’s camp has certainly received its fair share of criticism. Firstly, because of the timing just hours before the club’s opening match of a new season. On top of that, the English attacker has hardly set the world alight during two years at Stamford Bridge, scoring 19 goals in 81 appearances across all competitions.
In addition, new head coach Enzo Maresca is well within his right to pick the squad he wants, and with a group that’s currently so large, there’s naturally going to be some high-profile omissions.
When reacting to the camp’s message via X, Jamie Carragher described Sterling’s statement as “ridiculous”.
Noni Madueke deserves to be angrier than Raheem Sterling
While Sterling’s frustration is understandable because he must feel he’s good enough to contribute, the execution of the public statement is the complete wrong way to go about it.
If anything, Chelsea’s Noni Madueke is the player that should’ve been kicking up a fuss this weekend. Instead, he’s remained professional and we’ll hope he gets his reward in the upcoming matches.
Based on pre-season, Madueke felt like a dead cert to get some minutes in the league opener at home to Man City. The 22-year-old right-winger was the joint-top scorer for the Blues on pre-season with three goals, plus he put in some really eye-catching performances.
However, Madueke found himself on the bench on Sunday and was actually an unused substitute.
Chelsea boss Maresca used four substitutes to try to impact the game versus Man City, but he didn’t call upon the £29m star (Sky Sports), who dazzled at times in pre-season. It felt like a very bizarre call from the Italian manager.
What’s next for Noni Madueke?
Many people may have tipped Madueke for a big year based off the summer, but there’s actually now transfer speculation about his future while the window is still open.
The Telegraph recently claimed that Chelsea would listen to offers for Madueke following the signing of Pedro Neto, who’s now a direct rival for him in the attacking positions. Elsewhere, The Athletic reported Chelsea have put a £60m price tag on Madueke.
The transfer window closes on 30 August, so fans will have to wait and see what happens with their player.
If Madueke stays, he’s definitely good enough to make an impact for the Blues. However, the concern is that he harshly didn’t get a look-in for Maresca’s first competitive match, which should leave him a bit confused and frustrated.
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