‘Enormous potential’: Chelsea told they may need to loan out £29m player with zero PL starts this season

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Boudewijn Zenden thinks Noni Madueke may need to move away from Chelsea in the future to play regular football.

Noni Madueke, who’s just 21, is one of the several talented youngsters in the Blues squad at Stamford Bridge.

The left-footed attacker has scored three goals in two games for England’s Under-21s side during this international break, but it’s been a very quiet start to the season for him at club level. He’s made just four Chelsea appearances across all competitions so far this season, starting zero Premier League games.

Chelsea have now been told Madueke’s got “enormous potential” and needs minutes for his development.

Former Chelsea star Boudewijn Zenden is obviously a big fan of Madueke’s individual talent and potential. He’s stressed how important it is that he plays, though.

“I saw him progress from the youth to the first team at PSV. He has developed extremely well, but I have my doubts about the switch. Wasn’t it too fast?” Zenden told Soccer News.

“Noni had good games at PSV, but was not an undisputed starter. He hasn’t had a season where he played 32 games. While he was doing well, he got injured and was thrown back again. These are phases that you have to go through as a player before you have arrived.

“He is certainly not an established player yet, but certainly one with enormous potential. I understand why Chelsea bought him, also because he is a homegrown player. But he will have to play more minutes to develop further. If that doesn’t work out at Chelsea, I can see him being loaned out.”

Journalist Simon Phillips recently claimed via his Substack that Madueke “backs himself” to force his way into the Chelsea line-up.

The right-winger’s got pace, skill and an eye for goal. It’s why we’re confident he’s got a big role to play in Mauricio Pochettino’s squad, too.

He can definitely add something extra to a forward line which has underperformed for quite some time now.

The £29million attacker (Sky Sports) needs to continue with patience until the next opportunity comes, but it’s obvious a player with his ability can’t sit on the bench indefinitely.