Winger’s confident display on first England start shows he is now ready to provide competition for Bukayo Saka

Noni Madueke has a particular way of explaining things away. Direct, confident, a little dismissive – rather like how he plays. The Chelsea winger’s apology after the Wolverhampton affair at the start of the season featured a number of choice cuts.

“I just want to apologise to everyone that I might have offended,” Madueke said, after accidentally sharing a private message about Wolverhampton being a “shit place” with his followers on social media. “It wasn’t meant to be out on my socials like that. I’m sure Wolverhampton is a nice town and I’m sorry.”