When Arsenal can complete Noni Madueke transfer with clear Chelsea timeline revealed

Noni Madueke's 2024/25 season is already the longest of his professional career. It is 52 games and counting in all competitions for club and country.

With at least one more to come, maybe two, he will be due a rest at the end. Madueke missed a month with a hamstring injury and was not asked to play in the Conference League group stage until the last match.He has been on a tear since the start of April..

After being absent for the March internationals with Thomas Tuchel and England, he has been almost ever present. Fitness and suspension issues across the Chelsea squad meant his European demands increased for the knockout rounds, and Madueke was increasingly relied on once passed as ready to play again.

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His form did not particularly reflect the importance Maresca placed on him, but for a player who moved back to England with concerns over his injury record, there has been very little to really worry about. He is now among the Chelsea players to be on a long stretch without much of a break at all.

Enzo Maresca started him in the Conference League final, gave him 10 days off before the Club World Cup, as the rest of the squad got, but that was consumed by England duty. Tuchel showed no mercy on the legs of Chelsea players with the Club World Cup around the corner, putting Madueke into his team for both matches against Andorra and Senegal.

Madueke was, at least, only a substitute for the latter, a shock 3-1 defeat at the City Ground. It would be no surprise if he was feeling the sort of fatigue that has undoubtedly troubled Cole Palmer in 2025.

The end is close for Madueke, perhaps in more ways than one. His season is into its very final knockings, whilst it could coincide with the closing of his Chelsea chapter as a whole.

On Tuesday, Madueke will be part of the Chelsea squad attempting to reach the Club World Cup final. The tournament has extended an already draining year by an extra four weeks. The impact could be much bigger heading into next season without proper summer preparations possible.

Whether Chelsea beat Fluminense or not, the players will be afforded 21 days of consecutive holiday. That eats into the normal pre-season schedule and will leave them between 14 and 19 days once returning to Cobham ahead of the Premier League's mid-August start.

Between the Club World Cup final, on Sunday, July 13 in New York, there are just over five weeks. Most clubs will be back into a full pre-season by that point, getting ready for tours across all the continents. Chelsea will spend over half of that resting, cutting up the time for Maresca to work with his players.

They have two games scheduled, both at Stamford Bridge, for the weekend before hosting Crystal Palace. Milan and Bayer Leverkusen will be the opponents.

Other behind-closed-doors fixtures can be arranged, but it will be a frantic and desperate period. Madueke might not be there by this point.

He is being pursued by Arsenal and has agreed personal terms over a deal. The two London rivals are yet to hold talks over a price, but there is an openness and definite eagerness from all parties to see what can be done.

Chelsea have already bolstered their attack and remain interested in alternatives should Madueke go.At 23, he is a proven Premier League player but has shown inconsistencies to his game that have frustrated.

Arsenal, on the other hand, see him as valuable competition for the right and left wing spots as they seek to add depth to Mikel Arteta's frontline. Chelsea can bank a sizeable profit on Madueke having spent just over £30million to sign him in January 2023,whilst Arsenal can pick up a full international with his best years theoretically still ahead of him.

There is still some way to go if this is to be completed but the two sides have recent history of working well together. Kepa Arrizabalaga is a much lower-key move for his £5million release clause, but the lines of communication exist and are open.

Kai Havertz and Jorginho have also made the switch since 2023. Arsenal have paid more than £80million for the three of them. Madueke would be a lot closer to Havertz's £65million than either of Kepa or Jorginho (£11million).

For now, Arsenal's focus also seems to be on getting Viktor Gyokeres over the line.That will not stop them from pressing on with Madueke. Other attacking options remain as well, with Rodrygo and Eberechi Eze still targets.

Madueke's Club World Cup commitments mean that it is unlikely for things to be wrapped up imminently. He trained with Chelsea on Monday ahead of the Fluminense semi-final and will surely be involved one way or another in the game.

He came on as a second-half substitute against Palmeiras in the quarter-finals despite being in talks with Arsenal. Madueke was lively, once more operating from the left side. Despite Joao Pedro's arrival, he is still valuable to Maresca with Jamie Gittens unavailable to feature.

"Personally I think the same noise where before the Palmeiras game, you see we gave him half an hour and he was very good, so I don't have any doubt that if we need Noni he is going to help us," the Chelsea head coach said on Monday."At the same moment I can understand that as a human being when there are many noise around you it's not easy to deal with that, but hopefully he can deal with that."

With Madueke still involved in the Chelsea set-up, nothing is on the verge of completion here. Given he is in America, Arsenal have welcomed players back for pre-season training at London Colney and are set to fly out to Spain for warm weather training, there is no rush.

Arteta and his squad travel to Asia for their friendlies against Milan, Tottenham, and Newcastle United on July 19. That is plenty of time for things to advance, even if Chelsea do get past Fluminense and into Sunday's final.

They will then travel back to England before heading off on holiday themselves. This is a much more appropriate time for the transfer to be concluded, or picked up.