Mendy says he was able to hit the ground running in England because he knew and "loved" the country already, having visited many times previously since his sister lived here.Īsked about the biggest changes he had to adapt to, Mendy points to the level of intensity in the English top flight and its packed Christmas schedule. "I think of the match against Manchester United - one of my first in the Premier League and at Old Trafford, which is well-known in football as being one of the most beautiful places to play." He started as he meant to go on, keeping clean sheets in six of his first seven games, with one of these a goalless draw away to Manchester United - a game he still savours. "Petr pushed hard to recruit me so when I arrived, I really wanted to be the best on the pitch - to show him he had made the best choice," said Mendy. Mendy owes his Premier League chance to Cech, whose own journey from Rennes to Stamford Bridge resulted in one Champions League win and four championships among other triumphs. The man known as 'Edou' at Chelsea is certainly doing that - registering an impressive 36 clean sheets in his first 65 Blues games, and conceding just 42 goals. "I know it's a responsibility and I've always said I'll do my best to make people proud and show there could be lots more African goalkeepers in the Premier League." Grobbelaar and Mendy form precisely half the total tally of African Premier League goalkeepers since its launch in 1992, with Nigeria's Carl Ikeme and Ghanaian Richard Kingson the only others. "It's real pride for me and my family," he said. In Porto, Mendy became the first African goalkeeper to play a Champions League final, even if Zimbabwe's Bruce Grobbelaar had twice done so in the tournament's forerunner, the European Cup (winning in 1984, but losing in 1985). His favourite save of 2021 came in the tournament too, when keeping out Real Madrid's Karim Benzema in the second leg of a semi-final Chelsea won 2-0 to book their place in May's final against Manchester City. For my first year in the Champions League, it was a good debut." "We were very good in the group stages, knock-out stages and the final. "It's the most difficult competition in Europe," he said. Little surprise then that it's his highlight of the year. His debut Champions League season was remarkable - as he lifted the trophy, became the first goalkeeper to keep nine clean sheets (a joint-record) in his first year and was later named Uefa's Goalkeeper of 2020-21. The latter is something he's getting used to. "That gives me enormous pleasure and makes me want to keep on winning." "It's something exceptional because when you go to South Africa, Congo or Togo, say, you have all these people saying they're proud of you, they're backing you and telling you to continue what you're doing.
"Everywhere in Africa, when I walk in the street, people stop to congratulate me. "It's incredible because I've made people proud across the continent," he told BBC Sport Africa.
Now boasting Champions League and Uefa Super Cup medals, Mendy is starting to emulate the Czech's trophy-laden spell with the Blues after a string of largely-flawless performances. The Chelsea star, 29, has had an unforgettable year since joining in September 2020 on the insistence of the club's legendary former goalkeeper Petr Cech. It’s so hard to score against him in training.Wherever he goes in Africa, Senegal's Edouard Mendy - the continent's only Premier League goalkeeper - says he is hugely inspired by those he meets. His development from the first day has been outstanding. He’s an outstanding guy with a fantastic personality, super humble, super calm. Thomas Tuchel, speaking in September 2021, on working with Mendy at Chelsea FC: “I’m super happy with him. “It’s a lot more difficult to score against Chelsea, not just because of the change to the back five, which Thomas Tuchel brought in, but also the goalkeeper.” If you’re going to win a title there are going to be games where you don’t play well, you don’t deserve to win the game but your goalkeeper makes two or three world class saves. But it was thanks to my family, who helped so much in those moments to keep me strong.” What Have Others Said?įormer Manchester United star Gary Neville on Mendy’s man-of-the-match performance against Brentford in October 2021: “He was absolutely brilliant. I had many, many doubts during that time.
“Because one year to go without football is an incredibly long time.
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