£26.5m PSV Eindhoven star Chelsea bound after Van Nistelrooy admission

PSV Eindhoven boss Ruud van Nistelrooy has admitted the Eredivisie club are now looking for replacements for Noni Madueke, who is thought to be Chelsea bound.

The England U21 international grew up in London and spent time in both the Tottenham and Crystal Palace academies before moving to PSV in 2018.

He’s got 20 goals and 14 assists in 79 appearances for the Eredivisie side since breaking into the first team in 2020, playing predominantly on the right wing.

The Blues have reportedly been eyeing Madueke for some time and a report on Friday claimed Graham Potter’s side had ‘stepped up their efforts’ and have made an opening bid of £26.5m for the 20-year-old.

And Van Nistelrooy, who has already seen Cody Gakpo depart the Dutch club for Liverpool this month, admits they’re currently searching for replacements for Madueke, despite hoping the forward would remain with PSV for the foreseeable future.

Van Nistelrooy said: “It is now a case of looking for a good replacement. It looks like we could lose another big player this winter transfer window.

“I know that they (Chelsea) want Madueke. I would rather not let him go, but I can’t stop big clubs from showing such a massive interest in him.

“Madueke has created the interest by himself, because of his terrific qualities and his performances here in the Netherlands and in European games.

“I wanted to see if there was any way we could keep him here. My hope was on a longer spell of Madueke here at PSV Eindhoven.

“So I told the club to try and do everything to keep him. He is quality for this club. But I know things take a completely different turn when the big money comes on the table.”

Madueke is well known to Potter, with recruitment analyst Kyle Macaulay and Director of Global Talent and Transfers Paul Winstanley identifying Madueke as a target before they followed the manager from Brighton to Chelsea.

He will join fellow forwards David Datro Fofana and Joao Felix who have already made the move to Stamford Bridge this month.

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