The London Pipeline from Chelsea to Arsenal continues. It focuses on a transfer history in which the blues have consistently assigned decisive success on their counterparts – and the bomb of Thursday evening could follow well in the same spirit.
The upcoming arrival of Noni Madueke in North Londs for a fee of £ 52 million has already divided the Gunners fan base.
On Wednesday, agitated Arsenal -fans received the hashtag #notomadueke trending on social media. The next day even a petition was launched against his move, which follows a well -affected path.
Following the £ 5 million signing of Kepa Arrizabalaga last week, the Gunners signed a player from Chelsea remarkably in six of the last seven seasons. Since the summer of 2019, Arsenal has paid a combined £ 142 million in transfer costs to their rivals in London.
Under that cohort are David Luiz, Willian, Jorginho, Kai Havertz and Raheem Sterling. Ashley Cole, Olivier Giroud and Cesc Fabregas (although he was not a direct transfer and arrived from Barcelona).
It raises the question: which club has benefited more and where could Madueke rank?
The first marker starts with Cole in 2006, perhaps the best links in the world at that time that Arsenal Red for Chelsea Blue exchanged in a movement that still sticks in North Londs.
In exchange, the Gunners got William Gallas and £ 5 million – Cole became a winner of the Champions League and an important part of the Golden Age of Chelsea. Indeed skewed.
Arsenal broke when Yossi Benayoun in 2011, who did well, while Chelsea continued to take away their crown jewels from their rivals.
The Gunners snarled Yossi Benayoun on loan in 2011 he did a decent job, but hardly a game changer. In the meantime, Fabregas' return to London – not to the Emirates, where he made his name as a teenager, but to Stamford Bridge – the Gunners pain, and was worsened by him who won the competition in his first season.
And then there is Petr Cech. Chelsea allowed their club legend to join Arsenal in 2015 and was far beyond his peak. The blues had already prepared Thibaut Courtois as the future, but Arsenal was handed over the past.
Recently the players have been shifted to Arsenal often wrong. The relocation of Jorginho in January 2023 saw the midfielder settling quickly in Arsenal, with his leadership skills outside the field and stability on it.
The whimsical two seasons of David Luiz had his moments, but Willian's move was a unanimous flop.
The Brazilian signed a three -year -old deal, but only took one season at the Emirates Stadium and had trouble having a meaningful impact.
Even Havertz's large moving movement in 2023 raised eyebrows. Havertz, signed for more than £ 65 million, left Chelsea after an overwhelming enchantment and joined Arsenal in what many saw as a gamble. It has paid off, Mikel Arteta has found ways to use it, but it was not a bargain.
And finally, sterling. The signing of the August last year loan became a disaster and only seven league games started.
It is still to be seen whether Madueke will be a success or not. He will certainly not move Bukayo Saka on the right wing, which is his preferred position, so will have to adapt and prove to the left flank where Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard are.
If the pattern continues, Chelsea could be laughed again in front of the bank.