At time of writing, Édouard Mendy has just won a penalty shootout for Senegal in the final of the African Cup Of Nations. This means that not only is Mendy the champion of Europe but also a member of the champions of Africa. At 29 years of age, Édouard is currently enjoying the best spell in his career. But it has not always been silverware and accolades for the keeper. At 22 years of age, he was considering retirement after being let go of third tier French side Cherbourg. More on all that later.
Now we are going to look back on the career that the star shot stopper has had so far, from the highs to the lows and everything in between that made Mendy the player and man that he is today. It really is quite the story so buckle up and enjoy the rise of one of the greatest goalkeepers in this world today!
Early life and career
On the 1st March 1992 Édouard Mendy was born in the small French town of Montivilliers to a Senegalese Mother and a father from Guinea-Bissau. At an early age Mendy showed a love for football and he grew very quickly, this made him a prime candidate to be a goalkeeper. From a very young age he showed potential to be a seriously good shot stopper when playing for his local youth teams. His performances saw him gain a place in the Le Harve youth academy aged 13. Le Harve is widely renowned for being one of the top academies in the whole of France, producing. Top talents such as Paul Pogba, Riyad Mayrez and Dimitri Payet.
After struggling to get a foothold in the youth system, Mendy was dropped down to CS Municipaux Le Havre, a step down in the Le Harve system. Here he was able to establish himself and gain a strong footballing education as their top goalkeeper.
In 2011 Mendy signed his first professional contract in football, signing for third tier French side Cherbourg. He spent 3 years with the Normandy based side where he only managed to make 26 appearances. After not being able to fully cement his place in the side, Mendy subsequently left Cheebourg after his contract expired with the club in 2014. His agent at the time was working to get him other jobs but all applications fell through and Mendy was on the unemployment line. He even found himself requesting unemployment benefit. Something that he and his partner desperately needed as they found themselves expecting a child. The job search continued and Mendy almost found himself working in a menswear shop. The dream seemed to be crashing on the rocks. Apparently after trying to contact his agent on numerous occasions, he finally got a response back saying ‘good luck’ and that was it. He never heard from his agent again. In a recent interview Mendy stated ‘I did genuinely have my doubts about whether I would carry on’ and in this time, he did take a year away from the sport in a professional sense.
Though he spent a year without getting paid, Mendy went back to where it all started, Le Harve. He trained with the squad in order to stay sharp and get experience playing with top talent. Though as I say, he did all this without the notion of being payed. A year later in 2015 Mendy was encouraged to join the reserve side of Marseille as there was a 4th choice goalkeeper opening and the young Senegalese stopper jumped at the opportunity. He spent most of his time as a backup to reserve goalie Florian Escales who had caps for France at every level of the youth game. Though again only managing very few appearances for his side (8 appearances for Marseille B) Mendy does credit this time to making him the player he is today. In an interview he said ‘ I trained with professionals durin my time with Marseille, it’s something that one can only dream of’. Every day in training he would come up against the likes of Lassana Diarra and now Chelsea team mate Michy Batshuayi. He also gives a lot of credit to then goalkeeper of the main side Steve Mandanda who has made 34 appearances for France in aiding his development as a shot stopper.
Getting into his stride
In 2016 Mendy was called up by international side Guinea-Bissau to represent them in a round of friendly games. Mendy honoured his father and made 2 appearances. However, as these were just friendlies, he was not tied in to play for them forever. Édouard had intentions of playing for his mother’s home country Senegal. In 2017 his appearances warranted a call from Guinea again, asking him to pledge his allegiance to them and play in the African Cup of Nations. Mendy refused and cut ties with the international side as he had set his sights on Senegal.
The fallbacks that Mendy suffered throughout a large part of his early life really strengthen him as an individual. Not only physically as a goalkeeper but as a person too. His resolute and never give up attitudes helped him find his was to Ligue 2 side Reims. At 24 Mendy was really lookin to push on with his career, and after a great experience at Marseille he left in the search for more game time at French institution Reims. A side known to have featured legendary players such as Raymond Kota and Just Fontaine in the 60s. In an interview with So Foot, Édouard said ‘Reims was a new club that gave him rhythm’. Mendy started the season as the expected backup goalkeeper to the already cemented Johann Carrasso. However, in the very first game of the season, Carrasso was sent off just minutes into the match and Mendy was given his first appearance in the biggest game of his career to date. The side drew 1-1. Mendy continued to play sporadically throughout the season but really came into his own the following year during the 17/18 season.
For the first time in his career he was the nominated starter for his team. He repaid manager David Guion’s trust by keeping 18 clean sheets in 34 matches. This ensured Reims promotion to Ligue Un, and saw Mendy pick up his first bit of silverware in professional football (the first of many). The following season Mendy impressed again, this time at the highest level of competitive football in France. He produced 14 clean sheets (3rd highest in the division) and completed all 38 league games. This was the first time in his career that he had accomplished such a feat and was receiving many plaudits for it. Mendy was nominated for the best goal keeper in the league award but just fell short due to the consistent high quality performances from Nice keeper Walter Benitez. Though he didn’t achieve any silverware this year, he did manage to help guide Reims to a respectable 8th in the league.
All of Mendy’s heroics in the league finally saw him get a call up to his favoured national side Senegal. He kept a clean sheet in a 1-0 win over Equatorial Guinea. Mendy later stated it was a dream come true. He would of course go on to achieve great things with Senegal. But even for a player who had achieved so much as Mendy, it would be hard to imagine what was coming up next.
Another step up
Senegal finally called Mendy up to the 2019 African Cup of Nations. He instantly repaid their faith in him by keeping a clean sheet in their nations opening group game against Tanzania. Shortly after they would go on to lose to Algeria in their next group game. Subsequently Mendy broke his finger and was out for the rest of the tournament. This was a major setback for Édouard, who really wanted to show what he was capable of on the Continents main stage. Senegal went on the reach the final, where they would inevitably go on to lose to Riyad Mahrez’s Algeria once more. Though Senegal bowed out defeated, Mendy had gained great tournament experience and he vowed to come back stronger.
Back in France, Mendy decided to make another leap in his career by moving to league rivals Rennes, who were set to play in the Europa league that season. He joined Julien Stephan’s side for a reported fee of around €4 million and saw a drastic rise in his wages. Mendy was like a duck to water with his new team. He made 24 league appearances and kept 9 clean sheets. The tally could have been much larger but the pesky COVID outbreak in France halted their league season completely. Officials finally cancelled the league entirely after just 28 match weeks. Mendy did help Rennes achieve their highest league finish in their history. He did this with some outstanding displays. His 6ft6 frame was impervious in goal and his cat like reflexes made him a formidable shot stopper. He averaged a save percentage of 75% which was the highest in the division. He also saved an average of 3 shots a game, this just showed how pivotal he was in the defensive phase of Rennes game.
Not only did Mendy display his keeping chops in Ligue Un but also got his first taste in European competition. Rennes struggled in the group stages of the Europa league, only amassing 4 points in a difficult group containing Lazio and Celtic, but Mendy gained valuable experience once more, and knowledge that he could compete with the best.
The big leagues
On the 20th September 2020 Mendy made his dream move to England in a £22 million transfer to Frank Lampard’s Chelsea. He also saw an astronomical raise in wages, earning a reported 52k a week. Coming off a lack lustre season where the Blues finished 4th, there was a growing need in the squad to replace world record signing Kepa Arrizabalaga, who had massively under performed since moving to West London two years prior in a £72 million move. Kepa was in such a poor vein of form that he had let in 11 goals with the previous 16 shots he had faced and Chelsea fans patience with the young Spaniard was growing thin. This is where Mendy came in. Chelsea legend, and newly appointed technical and performance director of the club Petr Čech, who had previous ties to Rennes recommended Édouard to Frank Lampard as a solution to their goalkeeping woes. At £22 million it was considered a low risk signing, one that would hopefully bridge the gap between current issues and when Kepa would regain form. However, as we are well aware, the emergence of then 28 year old Mendy was something of a sensation. Making his debut in October, Mendy kept a clean sheet in a 4-0 win over Crystal Palace. Though Mendy was not called into action too frequently, he showed a calmness that the Blues had lacked in the position for the past few seasons. He would go on to keep a further 4 more clean sheets in the next 4 games, breaking Čech’s record for most clean sheets to start a players premier league career (one of many records he would go on to break in England).
During the winter period, a flurry of bad team performances saw manager Lampard sacked and replaced with serial winner Thomas Tuchel. A defensive play style helped give Mendy protection, and the three at the back formation forced opposing teams to take hit and hope shots form outside the box. This played into the German managers hands as one of Mendy’s greatest strength is his ability to save ranged shots. His massive wingspan allows him to cover the circumference of the goal in a fraction of a second.
The German revolution was in full swing in West London and the Blues found themselves in both an FA cup and Champions League final in May. A rib injury a week prior saw Mendy dropped for the FA cup final in which Chelsea would succumb to Leicester. In a cruel twist of fate, the winner was a long ranged screamer from Belgian Youri Tielemans, something that Mendy was a specialist in saving. Luck was on Édouard side and he managed to recover for the clash between Chelsea and Manchester City in the biggest game of his career.
Mendy played a blinder in the final, making a last ditch save and coming out to gather the ball and hinder any threats that came from the highly creative Pep Guardiola side. A Kai Havertz goal and 90 minutes of pain staking defending later and Chelsea were crowned champions of Europe for the second time in their history. Mendy gained the distinction of becoming the first ever African goalkeeper to win Europe’s premier competition. He also equalled the record for the most clean sheets in the competitions esteemed history with 9, equalling Kaylor Navas is the 15/16 season.
The following year, Mendy refused to let up in his pursuit for footballing legacy. Starting out with a win in the Super Cup against previous seasons Europa league winners Villarreal, he displayed why he would be considered one of the worlds best. This opinion was cemented when he was awarded both the Champions League goal keeper of the season award and FIFA best goalkeeper award in the space of a few months. This firmly put Mendy into contention to be the best player at his position in world football. He joined an exclusive list of players such as Manuel Neuer, Alisson and Gianluigi Buffon who have won the accolade.
King of Africa
Winning the Champions league made Édouard Mendy the first African goalkeeper to win the big eared trophy as previously mentioned. But that wasn’t the last piece of major silverware that Mendy would go on to win in the following 12 months.
The 2022 African Cup of Nations was about to begin and Édouard had fully cemented his place as starter, and had quickly became a cornerstone of the The Lions side. After the defeat in the final a couple of years earlier, the desire to win the trophy was palpable amongst the players and the nations people. Senegal had never previously lifted the trophy and now with a stacked team, involving Mendy himself, Liverpool winger Sadio Mane and captain and man mountain Kalidou Koulibaly, they had never had a better chance to win it!
One win and a draw was enough to see them make it out of the group stage. The team was greatly underperforming but the squad really came into their own during the knockout stages, winning both the quarter final and the semi’s 3-1. The stage was set for a grand final between the two strongest nations in the continent. Senegal vs Egypt. The game was obviously billed as a grudge match between team mates Sadio Mane and Mohammad Salah, but Mendy proved why he should be named amongst the largest names in African football. The final went to penalties after a merciless 120 minutes of pain staking football. Mendy again produced the heroics that saw him get to this point in his career by saving Egypt’s Mohanad Lasheen’s penalty. It only took Sadio Mane to whip his spot kick into the bottom corner for the stadium to erupt and pure emotion was unleashed on the Senegalese players. Édouard dropped to his knees and slid towards his nations fans as a crowd of cheers surrounded him. He had finally won. A player who only 6 years prior was without a club, was the crowned hero of his nation. What a contrast that is. As a cherry on top Mendy was given the award for being the best keeper in the tournament (something he was used to winning at this point). What a 12 months he had had! Senegal captain Koulibaly stated after the match in an interview that Mendy was ‘the best goalkeeper in the world’. Many would agree.
What’s next?
At time of writing the club World Cup is due to start in the coming days, and Chelsea will be looking to gain the title as world champions for the first time in their history, a defeat to Corinthians in 2013 only burns the fire in the squad to win the elusive gold. If the Blues were to win, this would be Mendy’s 4th trophy win in 12 months. Making this one of the best goalkeeping years in the history of the sport.
So to look back retrospectively, Mendy’s story is a symbol of what you can achieve with a never give up attitude. Édouard is not only one of the best shot stoppers in world football but he is also a beacon of hope for people who believe that some goals are too late for them and that you can achieve something if you work hard enough (helps if you’re 6ft6 and built like a tree). And in these trying COVID times you may feel that there is no end in sight, but as Mendy has shown, you can do a lot in 12 months!
Forgotten Footballers 