Chelsea could 'land £60m' for star who Mauricio Pochettino urged to be more professional

Chelsea reportedly believe they could earn a staggering £60million from the potential sale of Noni Madueke. The England U21 winger has been linked with a departure following another transfer spree this summer.

Madueke enjoyed an excellent end to last season under former boss Mauricio Pochettino, scoring three goals and providing two assists as the Blues climbed into the Premier League’s top six.

But the arrival of Pedro Neto from Wolves has potentially placed the 22-year-old’s future in doubt. A couple of top-flight rivals have been linked with permanent moves.

Chelsea believe they can make a huge profit on the £28m they paid PSV to sign Madueke in January 2023, though. According to The Athletic, Madueke’s improvement towards the end of the last campaign has prompted the Blues to value him at around £60m.

That fee would be more than the £54m Chelsea have paid to sign Neto from Wolves.

Madueke’s Chelsea career has not been entirely plain-sailing. At the start of last season, he was warned by Pochettino about his professionalism after he was filmed partying while injured.

“It is clear. This video, we were talking about that with him. I think it is a thing that we need to avoid,” Pochettino said at the time.

“All the players need to know that when we are a player of Chelsea to try to avoid these things. It wasn’t a big issue but we always need to avoid these types of situations.

“I think it is really clear that he needs to avoid it. But he is recovering from the national team and we will see if he is fit and can be involved and selected.

“But we talk about what you are asking me because it is a thing that the young players need to improve on. Not only him. Many, many players need to be professional and to have respect because of the badge we have here.”

Madueke was then involved in a bizarre incident when he and team-mate Nicolas Jackson argued over a penalty which Chelsea had been awarded in their 6-0 win over Everton in April. Cole Palmer eventually took the spot-kick and scored.

Chelsea are likely to trim their squad over the coming weeks, with Maresca currently managing a remarkable 43 senior players.