Atletico Madrid and Juventus eye Madueke loan as Arsenal winger struggles for minutes

Noni Madueke is attracting loan interest from Atletico Madrid and Juventus after a difficult start to life at Arsenal, where the £48.5 million winger has managed less than 30 combined minutes of Premier League football across the club’s opening five matches.

Madueke, 24, has been an unused substitute in three of those league games, with his only appearances coming off the bench against Chelsea and Coventry City. He has also featured as a substitute in the Champions League against Napoli, and started the Carabao Cup third-round tie against Ipswich Town, scoring Arsenal’s second goal in that match.

According to CaughtOffside, both Atletico and Juventus are monitoring the England international’s situation at the Emirates ahead of the January window, with a loan deal — potentially including a purchase option — under consideration. No formal discussions have yet taken place.

Madueke signed from Chelsea last summer and still has four years remaining on his contract. He finds himself behind Bukayo Saka in the pecking order on the right flank and is now also competing with teenage prospect Max Dowman for minutes under Mikel Arteta.

The winger has publicly accepted the challenge of fighting for his place. “You know that you’re fighting for places every week, on a game-to-game basis,” Madueke said. “You know that you’ve got an amazing squad that has the ability to fight on all fronts. We’ve got a squad full of internationals, top players, and that’s exactly what we need.”

Madueke was not selected by England manager Thomas Tuchel for the latest international break, leaving him available at Arsenal’s training ground. He could be in contention for the Gunners’ next fixture following Arteta’s frank assessment of a defeat to Brighton.

“Brighton deserved to win the game,” Arteta said. “We didn’t do the basics right for long periods, especially in the first half. We didn’t win enough duels, and any second balls, and that stretches you. With the errors that we made, and especially with the principles we didn’t apply against a team that wants to press you — so that puts us constantly under pressure.”

Arsenal signed Madueke as part of a squad overhaul aimed at ending a Premier League title drought stretching back over two decades. Whether he remains part of that project beyond January may depend on how much playing time Arteta is willing to offer in the months ahead.