PSV EINDHOVEN were not prepared to sell Noni Madueke in January but Chelsea offered so much money that they had to let him go, the Dutch club’s Director of Football Marcel Brands has revealed.
The England U-21 international born to Nigerian parents was one of eight players that joined big-spending Chelsea in January, and he made his debut in the 0-0 draw with Fulham on Friday night.
The 20-year-old wide forward joined the Premier League club for a reported €35m but Brands hinted the fee might have been higher.
“For Chelsea with their new owners to start throwing money around like that, that’s out of all proportion,” Brands told reporters in The Netherlands last night.
“We did know his personal situation, that he very much wanted to go back to England.”
Brands added that PSV’s resistance was broken when the offer for the London-born youngster became too good to turn down.
“I literally said to his father: ‘Not this winter’. But at some point, bids started coming in,” he explained.
“First €25m, then €28m, €32m, €35m, and then it gets close to that €40m. Then we asked ourselves internally whether we should hold it back any longer.”
Madueke began his football career at the Tottenham Hotspur youth academy and left for The Netherlands in July 2018 to join PSV U-17s on a free transfer.
He made 80 senior appearances for PSV, scoring 20 goals and assisting 14, before his move to Chelsea.
