Noni Madueke has taken the right action early as Arsenal transfer news sparks vitriolic response

Sign up to the free Arsenal newsletter so you don't miss the latest Gunners news, straight to your inbox

Sign up to the free Arsenal newsletter so you don't miss the latest Gunners news, straight to your inbox

Chelsea forward Noni Madueke has been the target of abuse sent to him online by sections of the Arsenal fan base. The England international has been the subject of strong interest from Arsenal and it has since been reported that following an agreement on personal terms, the clubs are now in talks over a deal for the player football.london understands.

After news broke that a bid of £50million had been submitted by the club but was turned down as negotiations continue to find an agreement, it sparked further backlash online beyond what had already taken place after the interest from the Gunners first emerged. The player currently has comments on his Instagram page deactivated which has been the case for some time.

Comments cannot be left on any of his posts, the last of which was posted on June 18. Madueke is a popular figure among Arsenal players such as Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka, who can be seen having liked a number of the winger's recent posts.

On X (formerly known as Twitter) hundreds of posts can be seen sending abuse the way of the winger. We have decided not to post them here so not to bring further attention to the individuals who are posting them.

Some even took it upon themselves to encourage others to send abuse in the direction of Madueke.

He would be joining a squad which sadly has already a strong connection with online abuse. Aaron Ramsdale faced similar problems prior to his switch from Sheffield United in the summer of 2021.

"I saw the backlash," Ramsdale told The Times. "That's when I made the decision to turn comments off, notifications off for people I don't follow on Instagram and Twitter. People can tag me, but I won't see it, so it won't come up on my feed.

"When people were saying I was getting a lot of stick and abuse, I said, 'Am I?' Because I didn't really know and I didn't really care because, yes, I've been relegated twice but the way I looked at it was two years of completely different experiences to other people at 23 [years old]. It's me and 10 other people on the pitch."

Kai Havertz also sadly had to deal with his wife Sophia receiving disgusting messages online from supposed Arsenal supporters, including threats to the couple's then-unborn child. Mikel Arteta gave his reaction to the news and spoke poignantly on the subject.

"It's incredible, honestly," he said. "We really have to do something about it, because accepting that and hiding this has terrible consequences. It's something we have to eradicate from the game because it's so cynical and dependent to a result of an action. There is no other industry like this.

"When we played Ipswich on 27 December, we win 1-0 and Kai Havertz scores. The whole stadium after that is singing the 'Waka, Waka' [his chant]. That was 20 days ago. Where is the perspective? We are all responsible. We cannot look somewhere else. That's a really serious matter. It affects me. It affects him and everybody that is in the industry.

"We can accept it and say that's our job, but there are certain limits and the line has to be drawn. We put a lot of attention on technology and what is next in football. What is next in football is that this should be prohibited. It cannot happen. That's it."

Opinion of lead Arsenal writer Tom Canton: "When will certain sections of this fan base stop embarrassing themselves with the vitriolic words they spew across social media? The examples above of Aaron Ramsdale and Kai Havertz are just the tip of the iceberg, and while we have seen some consequences, the battle to combat these online trolls appears never-ending.

"Imagine being in the shoes of an Eberechi Eze or Rodrygo, witnessing the abuse sent to a player before they have even kicked a ball. Does that send the message that you're joining a club with a fan base ready to back you through thick and thin? Absolutely not."

Click here to read article