Nigerian descent PSV Young sensation, Noni Madueke has emerged top among senior figures and recruitment staff at some of Europe’s leading clubs with his name increasingly cropping up in conversations.
Exciting PSV winger Noni Madueke, 18, has emerged this season as statistically the best performing Englishman in Europe, his return of eight goals and eight assists meaning he has directly contributed to a goal every 64 minutes.
His exploits in his first full season at PSV might be slipping under the radar of some fans back in his native country, but a number of English clubs are now revisiting the one who got away when Madueke left Tottenham for the Dutch giants in 2018.
His potential was clear as he came through at Spurs in the same group as Troy Parrott and Harvey White after joining the north Londoners from Crystal Palace.
Madueke was only 15 when he made his under-18s debut and captained their under-16 side in his final season, scoring 18 times in just 19 appearances from midfield.
As a star performer for England’s under-16s at the time too, the Spurs were left stunned when Madueke rejected the chance to stay on alerting some of the biggest clubs at home and abroad who were equally shocked that arguably the best English player of his age was available.
PSV academy coach Van Nistelrooy was behind Madueke’s conversion from a No.10, believing his one v one dribbling ability and speed would make him better suited to a wide role.
Van Nistelrooy then gave Madueke – initially part of the under-17s setup but quickly promoted to the former Manchester United striker’s under-19s – a bigger platform to display his talents by making him a focal point of his team.
And the plan all came together perfectly as Madueke was ready exactly when PSV hoped he would be, making his first-team debut in what turned out to be Bergwijn’s last game before he joined Spurs for £25m last January.
England youth international Madueke made four appearances before the Covid-19 pandemic brought a premature end to the Dutch season and is already up to 24 appearances this campaign.
Only 10 have been from the start, but Madueke’s influence and importance to Roger Schmidt’s side is growing by the week, with his goal and assists return in the game time he has been given this season hugely impressive.
Madueke’s figures put him top for direct goal involvements per-90 minutes compared to all other English players in Europe who have played more than 500 minutes of league football, with 1.3 per game, and third amongst under-20 players of all nationalities across Europe.
Only Borussia Dortmund sensation Erling Haaland and Ajax’s Lassina Traore – helped by a freak five-goal and three assist haul in a 13-0 Eredivisie win over VVV Venlo – are above Madueke according to data analytics company Soccerment.
Soccerment’s method of assessing players’ performance data, has also led to them identifying Madueke as one of European football’s ‘wonderkids’ alongside the likes of Haaland, Alphonso Davies, Jadon Sancho and Ansu Fati.
