Fate is the silence of each, so said the infamous poet. And, in football, as luck would have it, many players did not expect that the way of life could change drastically. Edouard Mendy is one of them. He was able to rise from dark times to become a hot topic of conversation.
Imported by Chelsea from French club Stade Rennais on September 24, 2020, as a competitor to Kepa Arrizabalaga who appeared inconsistent, Mendy began to have a positive impact. Of the six matches that have been played across competitions, the Senegalese goalkeeper has scored four zero goals.
According to statistics compiled by FBref, Mendy averaged 3.6 saves per match. The fate also seemed to side with Mendy because in addition to Kepa’s fickle appearance, the Spanish goalkeeper was also injured so that Mendy’s path was smooth to become Chelsea’s number one goalkeeper.
“We signed it because of its quality. Mendy showed extraordinary composure in the match he played with a save today [against Man United], you certainly count on him, “said Frank Lampard after Chelsea’s 0-0 draw against Man United last week.
After slowly starting to gain the coach’s trust, Mendy now has a mission to raise the rank of goalkeepers from the African continent to dare to play in the Premier League. The reason is, this season, Mendy has become the only goalkeeper from Africa in the midst of competition for goalkeepers from European countries.
“Most of the great African talents play for this team [Chelsea]. However, in the position of goalkeeper, I was first. So this makes me proud and at the same time should take a big responsibility, ”he was quoted as saying by the Evening Standard.
Mendy also indirectly invited goalkeepers from Africa to continue to nurture dreams and hopes so that they can continue their career in the Premier League. He also wants clubs in the Premier League not to hesitate to glance at potential goalkeepers from Africa.
However, for all of his desires, Mendy first needs to prove through his contribution to the Blues. He must show that Petr Cech was not wrong in recommending Chelsea to sign him to Stamford Bridge.
“I just need to make sure that I continue to work hard and do my best in the match so that other goalkeepers can follow me to this league,” he was quoted as saying by Sky Sports.
Edouard Mendy’s Career Journey
Despite being a Senegalese citizen, Mendy was born in Montivilliers, France, on March 1, 1992. Since childhood he has had an affection for the round skin. AS Cherbourg became his first club. Unfortunately, the opportunity to show skill never came. During two seasons he only appeared eight times.
Then, hard times came in mid-2014. He has no club and no job. When I thought about retiring from the world of football, the intention was canceled when I received unemployment benefits. Mendy began to hope that he could return to playing football again.
Hope emerged in 2016 when Mendy joined Stade Reims. However, again the competition in the goalkeeping position made him appear only 10 times in the first season. But his patience began to bear fruit one season later. The number of caps has increased dramatically (34 times) as well as bringing Reims promotion to Ligue 1.
Mendy continues to show his development as a talented goalkeeper. The result was that he was brought in by Stade Rennais in 2019/20. He brought Rennes to third in the final standings. With a record of 13 goals that he has passed with Rennes across competitions, Chelsea, through Petr Cech’s recommendation, is interested in bringing him to London.
So far, Mendy’s performance shows that Chelsea is not wrong to sign him. In fact, he has matched Petr Cech’s score as a Chelsea goalkeeper who made three clean sheets in the first three Premier League games, as he has succesfully returned to keep his net from conceding against Burnley lastweek. Can Edouard Mendy beat Petr Cech’s accomplishments? We will see at the end of the season
ASL
