Muristek
Noni Madueke: ‘Players are realising there is a world outside of England’
Winger left Spurs for PSV four years ago at the age of 16 in search of first-team football. It paid off handsomely – ‘sometimes I have to pinch myself’
Noni Madueke is one of England’s most prodigious talents, a tricky winger with electric pace and as a driven 16-year-old at Tottenham his dancing feet were in a hurry to reach the top. “I just wanted to be integrated into a first-team setup as quickly as possible. I thought: ‘What’s the quickest way to do that and still maintain a good standard of football?’ PSV was the answer,” says Madueke, who will line up against Leicester in the Europa Conference League quarter-finals on Thursday. “It wasn’t difficult to come here because I was clear in what I wanted.”
Madueke, who was also courted by Chelsea and Manchester United, says it did not feel an especially brave call and his decision in 2018 looks wiser by the minute. Jadon Sancho’s move to Borussia Dortmund a year earlier provided inspiration and Madueke’s impressive progress means more will surely follow. Madueke, who was born in Barnet, believes he was the first English player to join an overseas club before becoming a scholar and says he and players such as Jude Bellingham and Jamal Musiala, who left Chelsea for Bayern Munich, have helped buck a trend.
Continue reading...