Wayne Rooney admits Arsenal signing is already proving him wrong, ‘had my doubts’

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Arsenal look like they’re firing on all cylinders this season and several players are standing out.

It’s been a near-perfect start to the campaign for Arsenal, who have won four of their first five games across all competitions and conceded just one goal.

They ran out comfortable 2-0 winners at Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League in their last outing and are now looking ahead to a huge showdown against Manchester City this weekend.

There are plenty of reasons for Mikel Arteta to be confident going into that tussle, especially the performances of his summer signings, many of whom have hit the ground running.

Now, Wayne Rooney has singled out one of them for particular praise.

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Wayne Rooney praises Noni Madueke, but had his doubts

Noni Madueke has caught the eye since arriving from Chelsea in the summer transfer window.

Madueke dazzled in the 3-0 win against Nottingham Forest before following that up with another scintillating display in Bilbao, having got the better of his man time and time again.

Rooney admitted he had initially doubted whether the winger was the right man for Arsenal, but after watching his red-hot start at the Emirates Stadium, he has been blown away.

“I think he’s been fantastic,” the pundit said on the Wayne Rooney show. “I still had my doubts on him, I’ll be honest, when he was at Chelsea. Then when they signed him, I was thinking, I’m not really too sure.

“Obviously, they have [Bukayo] Saka there as well. But I think he’s been fantastic. I think the start of the season, how direct he’s been, and he played really well for England as well.

“It looks like really good business for Arsenal.”

High praise, indeed. But Rooney isn’t the only expert to have been impressed with the 23-year-old, with Gary Neville revealing Madueke reminds him of Arjen Robben.

• READ MORE: Jurrien Timber says opponents can’t stand playing against ‘amazing’ Arsenal summer signing

Mikel Arteta says Arsenal ace Noni Madueke is ‘unbelievable’

There were certainly some raised eyebrows in N5 after Madueke arrived at Arsenal, but he has undoubtedly shown his critics that he has exactly what it takes.

Arteta, however, is not surprised in the slightest, having labelled him “unbelievable”.

Speaking ahead of the victory over Nottingham Forest, he said: “I can talk about what I’ve seen and what I have experienced and I think the welcoming that our supporters gave to Noni from day one it was incredible.

“So, I don’t know all the ways that people communicated the disagreement with that. But our supporters, they’ve been exceptional and rightly so, because he’s an unbelievable player.”

The big question now is whether Madueke can continue his red-hot form and fire Arsenal to the Premier League title.