Chelsea’s most underrated player of 2025 according to the stats is a controversial choice

Chelsea’s player of the season was announced as Moises Caicedo, and there were very few people who would disagree with that. He was maybe the one player who was consistently good all season.

Other contenders were Enzo Fernandez – who stepped his game up in 2025 after a slow start to the year. Nicolas Jackson went the other way – if you go back to October, he would have been up there, but a total collapse since Christmas has put him out of the picture. Cole Palmer also went through a long drought after a bright start.

Chelsea’s most underrated player of 2024-2025 is a controversial one

Noni Madueke celebrates his goal against Djurgarden.(Photo by David Lidstrom/Getty Images)

But who was the most underrated player of the season? Who performed the best without actually getting any shouts for player of the year or similar award, and without as much recognition as they deserved both from Chelsea fans and from the wider footballing public?

Well if you go by stats alone, it would probably be Noni Madueke. The WhoScored average ratings for the season have Palmer first, Caicedo second, Enzo third, and Jackson fourth. Then comes Madueke in fifth.

With one game left he had 7 goals and 3 assists in the league. He’s not always been first choice, and was even dropped by Enzo Maresca at one point because of his attitude in training and lack of a killer instinct in games.

There’s no doubt he can be a frustrating player – but that’s also just the nature of the position he plays to some degree.

Challenges ahead for winger

This summer Estevao Willian is coming in to challenge him, and Geovany Quenda is coming in a year after that. So Madueke knows the pressure is on to keep performing and keep improving. Let’s hope it takes him to the next level.