![]() ![]() To cap it all off, Mendy played a starring role in Chelsea’s 1-0 Champions League final triumph against Man City. But it was Mendy’s flourishing gift for snatching away seemingly inevitable goals that entrenched his reputation as one of the best goalkeepers playing today – as shown in his famous penalty save against Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero in May not to mention his own favourite save of the season, when he leapt across the grass to parry a lethal low shot from Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema in the Champions League semi-finals the same month. Mendy went from strength to strength in the 2020-21 season – further developing an authoritative presence in shepherding the defence and an aerial prowess demonstrated by supreme confidence in surging from his line to catch crosses. In his opening matches at Stamford Bridge, Mendy showed just how much he belonged in the bright lights of the Premier League – pulling off five shutouts in a row, starting with his Premiership debut, Chelsea’s 4-0 thumping of Crystal Palace, and ending with the Blues’ 3-0 win over Rennes in the Champions League weeks later. ![]() Strength to strengthĪ club of Chelsea’s stature provided exactly the platform Mendy needed to develop his gifts to even greater heights. Upon Cech’s recommendation, Chelsea signed Mendy for £22 million. Lampard’s ex-teammate Petr Cech, now working in the back room as Chelsea’s technical and performance advisor, looked at his former club Rennes and saw there someone who could do exactly the same. Impatient with their erratic form under club legend Frank Lampard, Chelsea needed a world-class goalkeeper to displace the flagging Kepa Arrizabalaga. But the moment finally arrived in the summer of 2020. Looking back through Mendy’s astonishing career arc, perhaps the most surprising thing is that a footballing colossus didn’t spot him and snap him up sooner. ![]() Mendy exemplified this combination of unyielding pertinacity and consummate goalscoring skill throughout that Covid-marred season as Rennes soared to 3rd place, winning their first ever spot in club football’s most prestigious competition. Mendy showed just how much he had improved in his debut against Strasbourg: Shortly after recovering from a broken finger, he saved a penalty to preserve a shutout in a 2-0 Rennes triumph. The Breton club were stalwarts of Ligue 1 – yet also-rans of the European game who had never played in the Champions League. Mendy’s ever-improving shot-stopping skills, aerial prowess and authority over the defence were all instrumental in Reims’s climb through the league – as he notched up 14 clean sheets, the third highest tally in that season’s Ligue 1.Īfter helping turbocharge Reims from obscurity to the middle ranks of France’s top flight, Mendy moved up a step by joining Rennes at the start of 2019-20. Mendy then established himself as one of the best keepers in France’s top flight, as Reims surged to finish at 8th place in the 2018-19 Ligue 1. Blossoming talentīy the next season Mendy was entrenched as Reims’s first-choice keeper – playing a crucial role in the eastern French club’s 2017-18 Ligue 2 title victory. Luck intervened for Mendy once more, as stalwart Reims keeper Johann Carrasso got sent off five minutes into the first match of the season – allowing Mendy to step in and prove his burgeoning ability. Bernatowitz immediately saw he had a star on his hands: “From the first training session, I could see he was a cut above,” he told The Guardian.īernatowicz put Mendy in touch with an agent who could move him to a Ligue 2 club and get him regular football he joined Reims at the start of 2016-17. An ex-Cherbourg teammate was friends with Marseille goalkeeping coach Dominique Bernatowicz, who was looking for a reserve keeper. (4/4) Zero to hero: The extraordinary career of Senegal’s Édouard Mendyīut another friend’s offer was a different prospect. (3/4) Senegal’s Sadio Mané: From childhood rebel to football superstar (2/4) Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez, from a Paris suburb to the summit of African football (1/4) Mo Salah, Liverpool icon and incarnation of Egypt’s footballing dreams ![]()
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