There were not too many positives for Chelsea to take away from their 2-2 draw with Aston Villa last night.
Mauricio Pochettino‘s men did not lose 5-0 again and were at least able to secure a point after going 2-0 down.
However, Chelsea have now lost more ground in the race for European football.
Despite their expensively assembled squad, the Blues have really struggled this season.
One of their recent signings, though, was able to put in a pretty bright display at Villa Park.
Chelsea’s recent signings
Since taking over the club, Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital have not messed about in the transfer market.
Last summer, for example, they spent £115m on Moises Caicedo, making him the most expensive signing in the club’s history. And in January 2023, they splashed the cash on Enzo Fernandez and Mykhailo Mudryk.
During that same transfer window, Chelsea also signed Noni Madueke from PSV Eindhoven.
The winger arrived in a £30m deal and was sharp against Villa. It was the kind of performance, at least in the second half, that someone like Mudryk can learn from.
Noni Madueke proving to be a much better signing than Mykhailo Mudryk
Despite costing significantly less than Mudryk, it is now fair to say that Madueke has made way more of an impact than his teammate since their moves to Stamford Bridge last January.
While Madueke was able to come inside and put away his shot last night — something that the 22-year-old is getting much better at when you look at some of his other recent goals — Mudryk is still lacking that end product.
He had a couple of wild attempts against Unai Emery’s side, which was another reminder of just how raw the Ukraine international still is.
Madueke is definitely not the finished article either, but given how much he cost and how he is performing compared to Mudryk, the former PSV star has been the better addition to the Blues’ squad.