Arteta hails 'different' Noni Madueke as Arsenal winger responds to England snubs

Mikel Arteta believes Noni Madueke has returned as a ‘different’ player since deciding to train on his own during the last international break, and the Arsenal manager has now challenged the winger to go again.

Madueke was Arsenal’s main attacking outlet in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Hull City. His stinging shot forced a save from Konstantinos Tzolakis, and Martin Odegaard followed up to score the only goal of the game.

His 13 touches in the opposition box were the most by an Arsenal player in anyPremier League game this season. Involved heavily throughout, no player had more dribbles (5) or more chances created and shots combined (8).

Yet the 24-year-old left the pitch frustrated. Late on, Mikel Merino slipped him through, but his attempt to round Tzolakis clipped the goalkeeper’s foot and the chance was gone. “He knew he had three clear chances to score,” Arteta said.

Noni Madueke’s response to being left out

Madueke started only two of Arsenal’s first seven games this season and was not picked by Thomas Tuchel for England for last month’s Nations League fixtures. Rather than sulk, Arteta revealed that he used the international break to train individually.

The change since has been stark. He did not complete a fullPremier League match last season, his first after joining from Chelsea in the summer of 2025. Since the break, he has played the full 90 minutes in four of Arsenal’s five league games, and came off the bench at half-time in the other to curl in the winner against Nottingham Forest.

He scored the opener in the Champions League in midweek against Slavia Prague, and Bukayo Saka’s injury against Bayern Munich has moved him back to the right, where he is now central to Arteta’s plans. However, despite that improved form and Saka’s absence, he was again overlooked by England for the upcoming break.

“It was a close call and a difficult decision not to bring Noni, because he got his minutes after Bukayo’s injury at Arsenal,”Tuchel said at a post-squad selection press conference at Wembley.

“He got some goals. It was very close. But also [in that position], we stuck with the group that we had [during the last international break] and give them our trust.”

Arteta made clear Madueke had to earn his chance. “But that’s the second part of the story,” he told reporters. “The first one is you need to earn the right to be able to do that. Noni did. He didn’t do it in the first part of the season; that’s why he wasn’t playing.

“But the way he reacted to that is a great example for the rest of the squad, which is: I want to do more. He went away, decided to train, came back, and he was a different Noni. You could sense that he meant business, and he wasn’t going to accept that situation. Since then, he’s been incredible. So now you are in that position, now you need to hold it and improve it, and he can still do that. So, let’s see what he does in this break.”