Chelsea spent no less than eighty million euros two years ago to lift Kepa Arrizabalaga’s transfer clause at Athletic Club, making the now 25-year-old Spaniard by far the most expensive goalkeeper of all time. However, Kepa has had two not entirely convincing seasons in London, in which he clashed with then manager Maurizio Sarri because he did not want to be substituted and was even passed over a number of times by current trainer Frank Lampard in favor of 38-year-old Willy Caballero. . Due to uncertainty about the status of Kepa, Chelsea has been looking for a new goalkeeper this summer despite an investment of more than € 220 million for the arrival of Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner, Kai Havertz and Ben Chilwell. the Blues eventually ended up with Édouard Mendy. The Senegal international comes from Stade Rennes for a maximum amount of thirty million, adding a new chapter to a career that has a rather atypical course.

By Robin Bruggeman

The closing post started his career at the age of thirteen in the youth of Le Havre. Due to competition from, among others, the current goalkeeper of the Greek Aris Saloniki Zacharie Boucher, Mendy opted for a transfer to the smaller CS Municipaux Le Havre, after which he tried to further shape his professional career with third divisionist AS Cherbourg. However, Mendy did not get further than 25 appearances in the main force in 4 years in Normandy and in 2014 the club decided to let him go. An adventure at an unnamed club in the English League One then seemed to offer a solution, but due to a shadowy construction by his agent, this deal ultimately fell through. Mendy completed a satisfying training internship in England and was told by his advocate that an agreement was already on the table. However, a phone call from the club in question telling him this was not the case shattered his dream and the goalkeeper was left on the street at the age of 22.

Mendy returned with his soul under his arm to his old club Le Havre, where he maintained his fitness level with the reserve team and joined the queue at the employment office in order to earn a living: “For a football player and for everyone else unemployment feels like a slap in the face. Repeated failures leave their mark and you start to think that it might not be for you, ”he said two years ago in conversation with France Football. “The most difficult moment was every Friday when the Le Havre reserves coach read out his selection for Saturday. I already knew automatically that my name would not be mentioned, as I was only there to train with. I was not registered. You could see that the whole team was completely focused on the game. I missed that. That became increasingly difficult. ”

Kepa has had a difficult start to the new season with errors against Brighton & Hove Albion and Liverpool.

‘At Olympique Marseille, all the pieces fell into place’
Mendy, a cousin of Real Madrid defender Ferland Mendy, prepared himself at the time to throw it all the way and ‘look for work like everyone else’. However, a phone call from his former teammate at Cherbourg Ted Lavie offered a solution: “I spoke to the Olympique Marseille goalkeeper coach, they are looking for a goalkeeper and your profile is interesting for them. Have you drawn anywhere yet? ”Said the other end of the line. “No. Marseille? Of course that interests me ”, was Mendy’s answer, he reminds us So Foot. For example, after a year of unemployment, the closing post ended up at one of the largest clubs in France, albeit as a reserve goalkeeper of the second team: “Even if you have self-confidence, there are periods of doubt. That is normal. Personally, when it comes to my own path, it is clear that there have been times when I have had doubts. Thanks to those close to me, I have been able to maintain and access trust. When you are unemployed, you tell yourself that you will not find a way out ”, Mendy would say years later.

On the shores of the Mediterranean, Mendy got the idea that a career as a professional football player might be for him after all: “At Marseille, everything fell into place. The coach of the reserve team was looking for a young goalkeeper to join the first team and train with them. He knew a player who had played with me at Cherbourg. He was the one who mentioned me. I just came out of my period of unemployment. I was in doubt between two fourth division clubs. But Marseille called me and I quickly seized that opportunity. It felt like a release. I saw players with really great careers that I could play with and improve in that way. It was only there that I really understood that I could make it. I played with them, didn’t feel any less and still had room to get better. I trained with Steve Mandanda, Yohann Pelé and Florian Escales. Mandanda is an example for every keeper. His reputation in Ligue 1 speaks for itself. I learned a lot from studying his relationship with his defense, from his leadership. ”

Mendy only played at the highest level for the first time two seasons ago for Stade Reims.

Mendy loved the workouts les Olympiens against forwards like Steven Fletcher and Michy Batshuayi, while he was coached by the experienced Mandanda and Pelé on all aspects of the goalkeeping profession. After a year with the reserves of Marseille, Stade de Reims was on the doorstep and his career in professional football could really start. Mendy served in his freshman year at les Rouges et Blancs another role as reserve keeper, although he was allowed to make his entrance in the opening game of the season after five minutes after a red card for Johann Carrasco. The goalkeeper came into action a handful of times in the months that followed, before becoming the undisputed first goalkeeper of Reims in his second season. With Mendy between the posts, the Champagne club conceded just 22 goals in 34 games and at the end of the season they were promoted to the highest level, allowing the goalkeeper to play in Ligue 1 for the first time at 26. Mendy, however, was not really impressed by the difference in level and immediately grew into one of the best goalkeepers in France. Partly because of his good goalkeeping work, the PhD candidate finished in a more than creditable eighth place and in the summer of last year Rennes, which had just said goodbye to Tomás Koubek, who had left for FC Augsburg, had four million on the doorstep to transfer him. take.

Choice of Petr Cech
The choice of the Bretons to turn to Mendy turned out to be a bull’s eye for several reasons. Rennes finished in a surprising third place in Ligue 1 last season and is therefore entering the Champions League for the first time in club history. In the successful season of Rennes, the 1.97-meter-long goalkeeper once again proved himself to be a very reliable keeper, who over the past three seasons can, among other things, show a 79 percent save percentage. With regard to intercepting crosses, he did even better than keepers of name and fame such as Thibaut Courtois (8.8 percent), Alisson (8.1 percent), Ederson (6.9 percent) in the past football season with 10.2 percent. ) and Jan Oblak (5.5 percent). Considering these figures, it is no wonder that Chelsea ended up with Mendy of all, who with his transfer fee of up to thirty million is relatively cheap, can show a much higher rescue rate than Kepa’s 54.5 percent (the worst percentage in the history of the Premier League) and, unlike his Spanish teammate, dominates the penalty area. Kepa’s fault again in the first two games of the season against Brighton & Hove Albion and Liverpool will only have strengthened Londoners in their efforts to recruit Mendy.

It’s official! Edouard Mendy is a Blue! ????#WelcomeMendy

– Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 24, 2020

In addition to the positive figures that Mendy can submit, Petr Cech’s judgment also played a role in Chelsea’s choice to turn to Rennes. The Czech himself was active in Brittany for two years before switching to the Blues and the former goalkeeper has since returned to Stamford Bridge as a technical advisor after four years at Arsenal. Cech is seen as the driving force behind Mendy’s arrival, having expressed his admiration for the goalkeeper of his old employer several times at the club management of Chelsea. “I am very happy with my transfer to Chelsea,” was Mendy’s first reaction after his move was officially confirmed. “It is a dream come true to be part of this exciting team and to work with Frank Lampard and his staff. I’m looking forward to meeting my teammates and can’t wait to get started. ”

For example, after Havertz, Werner, Chilwell, Ziyech and the transfer-free duo Malang Sarr and Thiago Silva, Mendy will become Chelsea’s number seven acquisition for the upcoming season. Lampard has received the desired impulses after a year in which Chelsea was not allowed to do business due to a transfer ban, and it may not stop there. The number four of the last Premier League season is also explicitly associated with the arrival of Declan Rice from fellow townsman West Ham United. In all probability, to make this transfer possible, N’Golo Kanté will first have to be said goodbye, who does not really fit into Lampard’s system and seems to be allowed to leave against a good offer.