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

Mikel Arteta celebrated the transformation of Noni Madueke into a different player since he began training independently during the recent international break. The Arsenal manager challenged the winger to seize another opportunity. Madueke displayed his prowess in Saturday's 1-0 victory over Hull City, providing a precise shot that denied Konstantinos Tzolakis a save, and Martin Odegaard capitalized to make it 1-0.

Madueke's 13 touches in the Hull box were the highest for an Arsenal player in any Premier League game this season. He took five dribbles, created and scored eight chances. However, Madueke left the field disappointed after Mikel Merino's pass clipped Tzolakis' foot, depriving him of a scoring opportunity. Despite not being selected by England for last month's Nations League games, Arteta revealed that Madueke used the international break to improve his training.

He played the full 90 minutes in four of Arsenal's five league games since the break and came off the bench to score against Nottingham Forest. Bukayo Saka's injury has moved Madueke to the right wing, central to Arteta's plans. Despite this progress, Madueke was again overlooked by England for the upcoming break. Arteta emphasized that Madueke had to earn his chance, which he did by his reaction to being left out of the national team. He went away, trained harder, and returned as a more focused player.