Chelsea new boy Madueke likened to club legend by technical coach

Noni Madueke has been hailed as a special player and likened to Chelsea club legend Arjen Robben by his individual coach.

The Anglo-Nigerian arrived Stamford Bridge after the signing of former Arsenal target, Mykhailo Mudryk, albeit without as much fanfare as his Ukrainian teammate. 

Madueke who is a target of the Nigeria Football Federation, was signed on a long-term deal worth 35 million euros from one of the biggest clubs in the Netherlands, PSV Eindhoven.

Madueke's former coaches had positive comments about the Nigeria-eligible winger but that of Saul Isaksson-Hurst, a technical coach who has worked with him on an individual basis for the last two years, caught the most attention. 

Saul Isaksson-Hurst compared the young England youth international of Nigeria descent with Chelsea's iconic winger, Arjen Robben. 

"When players come to me, the first thing is to look at their position and say, 'right, what are the game-changing moments of that position? " Isaksson-Hurst told Sky Sports.

"Noni is an attacking wide player who likes to play on the right as an inverted winger, so one of his 'super skills' is cutting in on his left side, like Arjen Robben, and shooting from the edge of the box. 

"We worked a lot on challenging and trying to develop his 'super skill' but I also talked to him about the space it opens up on his right side, on his weaker foot, which he has done a lot of work on himself over the last few years."

He continued : "You see when Robben played, defenders would overcompensate to make sure he didn't get them on the inside, but that opens up a lot of space on the outside, and we worked a lot on that, going in and then going out again, onto his weaker foot."

Madueke could make his competitive debut for Chelsea when they take on Fulham in a London derby at Stamford Bridge on Friday, February 3. 
 

Izuchukwu Michael 

Photo Credit : chelseafc.com 

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