Chelsea’s Edouard Mendy by Anna Meyer – Wikimedia Commons

Top 10 Facts about Édouard Mendy


 

Édouard Osoque Mendy was born on 1 March 1992. He is a goalkeeper for Premier League club Chelsea as well as the Senegal national team. Mendy started his career in his native France, where he played at the Le Havre academy before agreeing to terms with third-division Cherbourg in 2011.

Mendy almost quit playing football after being released in 2014, but he eventually received an opportunity with Marseille’s reserves. In the next seasons at Reims and Rennes, he established himself as a regular.

In September 2020, Mendy signed for Premier League side Chelsea for a fee reported at £22 million. Mendy immediately broke into the starting line-up, becoming the first African goalkeeper to play for the club’s senior team.

He also kept 16 clean sheets in the Premier League. He won the UEFA Champions League:2020-2021 with Chelsea. Now let’s look at the top 10 facts about Édouard Mendy.

1. Was Born in Monti Villiers, France

On March 1, 1994, Mendy was born in MontiVilliers (Seine-Maritime, Normandy) France. He is the son of non-French native parents; his mother is a Senegalese citizen and his father was of Bissau-Guinean nationality.

He is one of the rare football players with such a diverse ethnic background. Ferland Mendy, a left-back for Real Madrid and the France national team, is his cousin.

2. Plays as A Sweeper Keeper

Goalkeeper takes a goal kick by Jörg Struwe from Pixabay

Mendy is a goalkeeper who is regarded as being physically dominant and having a significant impact in the defensive third. He has the highest Ligue 1 save success rate of 75.3% during the 2019–20 season while playing for Rennes, averaging 2.5 saves per game.

Mendy completed 51.4 percent of his passes over 40 yards in the same season. Goalkeeper Mendy is an aerially assertive goalkeeper who regularly leaves his position to intercept crosses. He is also very vocal, often organizing his defenders’ positioning.

3. Joined the Le Havre Ac Academy At Age 13

Mendy joined the youth academy of Le Havre AC at the age of 13. He is another talent of the ever-so-famous Le Hare AC Academy.

The Academy has produced some of the World football’s most amazing talents including, Mamadou Niang, Paul Pogba, Riyad Mahrez, and Dimitri Payet. After being stuck behind Zacharie Boucher in the talent pool, Mendy dropped down levels to play with CS Municipaux Le Havre.

4. In 2014, He Was Without a Club

Alone by StockSnap from Pixabay

He started his professional football career with AS Cherbourg, a team that played in the Championnat National, a French third-tier league system. In the three years he stayed with the 3rd division side, he played only 26 times.

His contract with the Normandy-based club expired in the summer of 2014. In quest of regular game time outside of France, he turned down offers from a number of French clubs. Despite promising to explore opportunities elsewhere, the goalie’s agent was unable to find him a job.

Mendy was without a club for a year. This made him think over his choices to be a footballer and even the idea to stop playing football altogether. At the age of 22, Mendy filed for unemployment and began looking for non-football jobs.

5. In 2015, Marseille Seemed to Be a Glimmer of Hope for His Football Career

After being without a professional contract for a season, Mendy was recommended to fill a goalkeeping vacancy at Marseille. The recommendation was from his friend and former teammate Ted Lavie.

Fortunately, after one phone call with Dominique Bernatowicz, academy goalkeeping coach, Marseille signed Mendy as their fourth-choice goalkeeper. He spent the 2015–16 season with Marseille’s reserve team, primarily serving as Florian Escales’ backup.

6. Mendy Joined Reims During The 2016-17 Season

Goalkeeper Mendy clears the ball by Happiraphael – Wikimedia Commons

During the 2016–17 Ligue 2 season, Mendy joined Reims in quest of regular playing time. Mendy made his debut on the first day of the season when Johann Carrasso, Reims’ starter goalkeeper, was dismissed five minutes into the match against Amiens.

Over his next seven games, Mendy went on to keep three clean sheets. This helped Mendy cement his role as the starting goalkeeper on a team for the first time. Reims won the 2017-18 League 2 title and was promoted to Ligue 1 for the following season. Over the course of the season, Mendy made 34 appearances and had 18 clean sheets.

In the 2018-2019 season, Mendy played in all 38 Ligue 1 games. Newly promoted Reims finished the season eighth-placed. Mendy had the third-highest total of clean sheets of any goalie in the league with fourteen clean sheets.

7. In August 2019, Mendy Joined Rennes

Mendy moved to Rennes in August 2019 for an undisclosed fee, which is estimated to be about €4 million. He took over for Tomáš Koubek, who was leaving. Mendy made his debut against Strasbourg on Matchday 3 after he had recovered from a broken finger.

In a season that was cut short by the COVID-19 epidemic, Mendy went on to keep nine clean sheets in 24 league games for Rennes. Rennes finished the season third-placed and qualified for the UEFA Champions League.

8. In September 2020, Chelsea Signed Him

In September 2020, Mendy signed a five-year deal with English club Chelsea, reportedly for a fee of £22 million. Mendy made his club debut on September 29 against Tottenham Hotspur in the EFL Cup’s fourth round. After a 1-1 draw, Chelsea lost 5-4 on penalties.

On October 3, Mendy played in his first Premier League match, keeping a clean sheet as Chelsea defeated Crystal Palace 4-0. Since Carl Ikeme in 2012, he became the division’s first African goalie to play.

After his clean sheet against Burnley on 31 October 2020, he became the first Chelsea goalkeeper since Peter Cech to keep a clean sheet in their first three Premier League matches. Chelsea went on to record five consecutive clean sheets for the first time in a decade.

9. Mendy Has Won Lots of Trophies with Chelsea

Mendy celebrating the 2021 Club World Cup final win by Fars Media Corporation – Wikimedia Commons

On 29 May 2021, Mendy became the first African goalkeeper to play in a final of the UEFA Champions League and the first since Bruce Grobbelaar, who appeared in the 1985 European Cup Final. In the final, Chelsea defeated Manchester City 1-0.

By keeping nine clean sheets, he also tied Santiago Caizares’ 2000–01 and Keylor Navas’ 2015–16 records for the most cleansheets in a Champions League season. Mendy began the UEFA Super Cup match against Villarreal and made crucial stops in the tie that went to extra time.

Kepa Arrizabalaga replaced him for the penalty shoot-out, which Chelsea went on to win for the second Super Cup title. Gianluigi Donnarumma of Italy, who saved two penalties in the Euro 2020 final, won the Yashin Award, placing Mendy in second place. The FIFA Best Goalkeeper title went to Mendy, nevertheless.

Mendy returned from international duty to play in the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup in February 2022, having helped Senegal win the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations. He started in the final and he won a second trophy in two weeks.

10. Made His Debut for Senegal in 2018

Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy calls his teammates by Happiraphael – Wikimedia Commons

Mendy was born in France to a Bissau-Guinean father and a Senegalese mother. He was called up by Guinea-Bissau in November 2016 to play in friendly matches against the Portuguese teams Estoril and Belenenses.

Mendy decided to represent the Bissau-Guinean national team in memory of his ill father, who was about to die. Later, he received a second call-up from the Bissau-Guinean national team for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. At this point, he chose to turn down the call-up and pledge his allegiance to Senegal.

On November 18, 2018, Mendy made his Senegal debut in a 1-0 victory over Equatorial Guinea. Mendy went on to become Senegal’s first-choice goalkeeper leading up to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.

Unfortunately, Senegal lost the final 1-0 to Algeria. Mendy was shortlisted in Senegal’s squad for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in January 2022. Senegal reached the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations final and the game ended in a goalless draw after extra time.

Mendy saved a spot kick from Mohanad Lasheen and another went on to hit the post during the penalty shootout to win the tournament. He was named the competition’s top goalkeeper for his efforts throughout the tournament, which included four clean sheets.

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