Edouard Mendy is enjoying his career in the new club and he is ready to show his talent at Chelsea. But he hasn’t forgotten how he almost gave up his football career after his Cherbourg exit six years ago.
Mendy was totally unemployed and was left without any club and that is when he was thinking of giving his football and start another career to earn a living.
His fortunes changed in 2015 when Marseille called him for trial and eventually signed him seeing his talent. He then got the chance to feature in their B-team before he had some spells at Rennes and Reims.
It is at Rennes, which is also Chelsea’s technical advisor, Petr Cech’s former club, he got the limelight and Chelsea offered him a contract proposal. He signed a five-year contract with Chelsea and joined them in this summer transfer window.
“I had to take unemployment support (in 2014) so I could dedicate myself totally to football. If someone had said to me six years ago that I’d end up here, I wouldn’t have bothered looking at or listening to them,” Mendy told reporters as per Chelsea official website.
“I did genuinely have my doubts about whether I’d carry on … It was incredibly difficult. My partner was expecting our first baby and so the unemployment support wasn’t going to be enough … I did start looking for other work.
“I had the opportunity to go to Marseille and I was given a trial. Fortunately, it worked … it was a relief. A year to go without football is an incredibly long time.”
The Senegalese goalkeeper said that Chelsea’s technical advisor Petr Cech had a huge hand in making his move to West London possible.
“I have been aware that Cech has been watching my matches for a number of years and it’s always really pleasing to hear he has been saying he liked my profile and the way I was performing.3”
“Here at Chelsea everybody approved my signing and now it’s up to me to show that they were right to take an interest in me and to have brought me to the club,”Mendy said.
Mendy’s first match versus Tottenham Hotspurs in Carabao Cup saw him delivering impressive performances and until now, he has been very consistent and solid as a keeper.
He has gained the trust of Lampard and has replaced quite efficiently Kepa Arrizablaga to become Chelsea’s No.1 keeper. He also has the backing of the fans and he was made to return quickly from injury in Chelsea’s first UCL match against Sevilla this season.
