Noni Madueke names Man Utd legend who clashed with Thierry Henry and disrespected Arsenal as his inspiration in football

Add as preferred source on Google

Noni Madueke is officially an Arsenal player, with the English winger completing a move from Premier League rivals Chelsea for £55m and becoming Mikel Arteta’s third signing of the summer window.

Madueke’s role at Arsenal will be essentially to fill the void from the departed Raheem Sterling, but he has the potential to be a key player for the Gunners next season.

If Mikel Arteta finally wants to secure that elusive first Premier League title at Arsenal, Noni could play a key part in this. Madueke possesses flair, skills and, most importantly, goals in his locker.

These are traits that the former Chelsea and Crystal Palace man has learned from his footballing inspiration, who Gunners fans may not necessarily like.

Noni Madueke names Cristiano Ronaldo as his inspiration

After Madueke’s move to Arsenal was made official, the Gunners’ media team wasted no time in getting to know Arteta’s latest signing. Alongside a club interview, they also did a round of ‘quick-fire’ questions.

In this, he was asked who his inspiration is in football, to which he replied “Cristiano Ronaldo“.

A source of inspiration to many, Ronaldo has dazzled wherever he’s gone, but of course, his beloved Premier League club was none other than Manchester United.

Despite his inspirational pick being detrimental to Arsenal fans, they’ll be delighted to know that when asked in the same interview, Madueke named Thierry Henry as his favourite ever Arsenal player.

But the Portuguese legend isn’t exactly popular with Henry, or around North London and Arsenal fans in particular.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s bad blood with Thierry Henry and Arsenal

In a fixture back in 2005, Ronaldo scored twice for Manchester United against the Gunners, ending a two-year unbeaten run for Arsenal at Highbury.

But it wasn’t just his goals that got fans talking that night in North London – Ronaldo stood up to Henry and shushed the home fans.

Ronaldo’s disrespect for the Gunners didn’t end there. In 2018, before his second stint at Manchester United, the Portuguese star was linked with a move to Arsenal.

However, despite claims he was close, Ronaldo’s former teammate Patrice Evra later claimed the multi-time Ballon d’Or winner said he would “never go to Arsenal.”

“Has Cristiano ever wanted to come to PSG? Yes,” Evra told RMC Sport. “There was Paris, Arsenal… That was before he signed for Juventus in 2018.

“He had Chelsea, Juventus, and Paris. He said he would never go to Arsenal. He was interested in the [Parisian] project.”

That said, Ronaldo has played against so many teams over the years, the forward seems to have beef with quite a few players and clubs, so Gunners supporters probably shouldn’t take Noni’s idol pick too personally.