Rio Ferdinand has instructed all those Arsenal fans who didn’t want Noni Madueke at their football club to apologise following the winger’s bright start to his Gunners career.

Eyebrows were raised when Mikel Arteta sanctioned a £52million deal in the summer to sign a player who showed only flashes of his true potential over the course of two-and-half turbulent years at Chelsea.

With Bukayo Saka blocking his route to a place in Arsenal’s starting XI, the 23-year-old began his Arsenal career in his less favoured position on the left flank.

An injury to Arsenal’s talisman has, however, presented Madueke with opportunities to thrive on the opposite wing for both club and country.

The former PSV Eindhoven star impressed on England duty over the course of the international break and followed up his first goal for England with a man of the match display against Nottingham Forest last weekend.

“I just want to give the haters, the naysayers who were hammering Madueke (a message),” Ferdinand told his YouTube channel (via Metro).

“The starboy Saka is out and Madueke has gone over to that right-hand side and said ‘guys I’m going to give you something a bit different, there’s a different sauce coming, but I’m going to show you something’.

“He’s delivered in a game and Arsenal fans are now salivating over him and saying they love him, he’s our saviour. Those fans need to come out now, those naysayers and negative guys need to come out now and say sorry.”

With Saka still recovering from a hamstring injury, Madueke is likely to play a prominent role again this evening as Arteta’s side begin their Champions League campaign against Athletic Bilbao.