Manchester United legend, Gary Neville, has expressed surprise at the performance of Noni Madueke since his move to Arsenal.
He said the England international’s impact at the Emirates Stadium has surprised him.
Neville likened the former Chelsea star to Dutch legend and former Bayern Munich winger Arjen Robben.
Arsenal and Mikel Arteta were heavily criticised even by their own fanbase for going over to Chelsea to pay as much as £52 million for Madueke.
The England international has made a bright start to the new season and had a lively display in the Gunners’ 3-0 win at home to Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
“Madueke, Eze… when you think about Martinelli and Saka, you thought they would dominate the right and left wing of Arsenal for the next five, ten years,” Neville said on Sky Sports’ The Gary Neville Podcast.
“Yet you’re watching two players yesterday, obviously Saka will come back in and Martinelli will play games as well… but Madueke is a lot better than I imagined and thought he would be. And certainly a lot better than Arsenal fans thought he would be.
“A couple of runs that he made for England on Tuesday night were a different level, they’re runs I thought, ‘ooh’. They’re runs… Arjen Robben used to make those runs against me.
“I’m giving you players where they’re a sort of level where you think, ‘ooh, I’m up against it, this is a different type of player’.
“I’m not saying Madueke is there yet, but his movement and the things that he’s doing are very, very good, and I’m talking from a full-back’s perspective playing against it.
“Eze looks like he’s got that little bit of something, he has got that something.”