Noni Madueke’s move to Arsenal have been criticized by some football lovers and Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella has criticized the timing.
Madueke joined Arsenal from Chelsea in a £52million move. The move was confirmed just days after Chelsea defeated PSG to win the FIFA Club World Cup.
23-years-old Madueke could have had his hands on a winner’s medal but opted to leave camp to finalise his transfer to the Gunners rather than delay it.
Cucurella was asked if that decision struck him as a strange one when speaking to Gerard Moreno during a Q&A with youngsters at his academy in Spain.
Noni Madueke has been unveiled as an Arsenal player (Pics: Getty)
He replied: ‘Yes, I think so. I think he missed a good opportunity (although) he wasn’t playing as a starter.
‘I do think it was because of everything that was happening regarding his future and in the end I think it could have delayed him a couple of days since he left a day early or something like that.
‘It wouldn’t have cost him anything to wait for that next day. In the end I think he missed a pretty good opportunity.’
Madueke was a major part of Chelsea’s success in the competition having featured in five of the six games for the Blues.
But he missed the crowning moment after deciding to leave before the final. Pedro Neto and Cole Palmer were the men deployed on the flanks in the 3-0 win.
Cucurella also admitted he was ‘scared s***less’ by Donald Trump when the US president crashed Chelsea’s trophy lift.
He explained to Spanish journalist Romero: ‘We had been told that, as a rule, Donald Trump would come to present us with the trophy and that we couldn’t lift it until he left.
‘And of course, we were all there waiting for him to leave, but the guy didn’t want to leave, and on top of that, we looked at him and he said, “Get him up, I’ll stay here, and so on.”
‘And I wondered who would say anything to him, you know… I was scared s***less!’
It was anticipated that the Commander-in-Chief would step aside after giving the trophy to Chelsea captain James – as is customary.
However, to the bewilderment of many Chelsea players, Trump remained on stage for the entire trophy lift.
