Rio Ferdinand launches passionate Noni Madueke Arsenal defence after thousands sign petition

Rio Ferdinand has launched a passionate defence of Noni Madueke ahead of his move to Arsenal amid controversy among some sections of the Gunners' fanbase.

More than 4000 supporters have signed a petition against his transfer from Chelsea. The forward has been target of abuse by sections of the Arsenal fanbase.

Personal terms with the player has been agreed and football.london understands that Arsenal will pay an upfront fee of £48.5million for Madueke. When add-ons are taking into account, the deal in total will come to £52m.

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There has been a lot of question marks over the deal and Manchester United icon Ferdinand has hit back at the controversy on social media.

Taking to X, he wrote: " Noni Madueke... For a young 23-year-old English footballer to be vilified, bullied, embarrassed and totally strip down at a time when you’re meant to be celebrating a transfer worth £55million.

"Yes a young kid with a dream about to secure a £55million dream move to a club of his desire leaving a rival at that to be treated in this manner via section of the Arsenal fan base is an utter disgrace. Just put yourself in his shoes for one minute.

"Just put yourself in his parents shoes for one minute and just think of how that feeling must be. I’ll say it again, at a time as a player, as a human, as a family you should be celebrating. I just hope the people that are closest to him are around him and supporting him in the way that he needs right now.

"It’s fine for fans to disagree with signings or decisions made at their football club but the way some fans have publicly voiced their opinions and those who have gone a step further in publicly joining a petition for this player not to be signed by their football club is beyond me. I have never seen anything like this before, and I hope I don’t ever again.

"Like I said earlier, just imagine this was your best friend, one of your family members, your brother, son… Then tell me how would you feel if they were on the receiving end of this vulgar behaviour??? By the way, this isn’t aimed at all Arsenal fans, it’s just a small section who have become very loud unfortunately.

"I just hope the transfer goes through and Noni Madueke rams all of this negativity back down the throats of these impostors. Whatever happens from here, good luck Noni."

Arsenal were determined to pay less than the typical Premier League market rate for attacking players heading into the summer transfer window.

Transfer deals for players like Joao Pedro, Anthony Elanga, Mohammed Kudus and Morgan Gibbs-White have been, or are expected to be, completed for fees higher than what the Gunners are paying. Sources believe this is seen as a well-negotiated price.