Noni Madueke was shown little love on his return to Chelsea in the Premier League after being given a bruising reception by his former team-mates at Stamford Bridge.
Madueke spent two seasons at Chelsea after joining from PSV Eindhoven, scoring 20 goals and providing nine assists during his 92 appearances for the club.
The winger had been a regular starter for the Blues and contributed to their Conference League success last season, while he featured for part of the Club World Cup campaign from the bench.
Madueke left the Blues during the tournament, sealing a £52million switch across London to rivals Arsenal, a move that initially caused protests from Gunners’ fans.
The 23-year-old made his return to Stamford Bridge in a top of the table Premier League clash on Sunday, joining the action in the 57th minute as a substitute, replacing Gabriel Martinelli.
Madueke joined in an already heated derby atmosphere, which had already intensified when Moises Caicedo had been shown a straight red card for a late challenge on Mikel Merino in the first half.
Noni Madueke was given a rough reception from Chelsea players on his return to the club
Footage showed Cole Palmer appearing to signal his approval to home fans booing Madueke
The winger was greeted with a chorus of boos from Chelsea fans as he made his way onto the pitch.
Footage shared on social media has shown Cole Palmer reacting to the boos for Madueke as he warmed up as a substitute.
Palmer responded by nodding to the Chelsea fans in an apparent sign of his approval at his reception given to his England team-mate.
When on the pitch, one incident showed Madueke being dispossessed by Enzo Fernandez on the edge of the Chelsea box, with the challenge seeing him fall to the ground.
Fernandez and Marc Cucurella responded to the successful clearance by turning and shouting in celebration in the face of Madueke, as the winger remained on the Stamford Bridge turf.
The match would ultimately finish in a 1-1 draw, with 10-man Chelsea earning an impressive point against the Premier League leaders after Trevoh Chalobah’s opener was cancelled out by a Merino header.
The result had seen Arsenal remain six points clear of Chelsea in the table, with the Blues slipping to third after Man City’s victory over Leeds on Saturday.
Enzo Fernandez and Marc Cucurella celebrated a successful challenge as Madueke lay on the pitch
Reece James did embrace Madueke after the final whistle of the hard-fought London derby
Wesley Fofana and Malo Gusto were among those to greet Madueke following the 1-1 draw
Madueke’s reception from the Chelsea players appeared to have only been restricted to the match itself.
The Arsenal star was embraced by Chelsea captain Reece James following the final whistle.
Gusto and Wesley Fofana were among Blues players seen greeting Madueke at the conclusion of the hard-fought London derby.
Palmer, despite appearing to support the boos, had written ‘Good luck my boy’ after Madueke’s move to Arsenal had been confirmed in the summer.
The match had seen Madueke continue his comeback following a knee injury, which has seen him miss 11 matches in all competitions for Arsenal.
Madueke, who has been restricted to nine appearances this season to date, scored his first Arsenal goal in their 3-1 victory over Bayern Munich in midweek.
