KEEP FREEZE
Mendy to go straight into Chelsea side as faith in Kepa runs out
EDOUARD MENDY completed his “dream” move to Chelsea – and could be plunged straight in as No.1 for tomorrow’s trip to West Brom.
Kepa Arrizabalaga has made major blunders this season and his position is under huge pressure from the new £22million keeper.
Mendy will be able to join squad training after passing a Covid-19 test following his arrival from Rennes.
And that paves the way for a start at the Hawthorns, at the expense of error-prone Kepa and back-up Willy Caballero, who played in Wednesday’s Carabao Cup hammering of Barnsley.
Senegal star Mendy, 28, said: “I’m so excited to be joining Chelsea. It’s a dream for me to be a part of this exciting squad and to work with Frank Lampard and his coaching staff. I look forward to meeting my team-mates and can’t wait to get started.”
It caps a remarkable rags-to-riches rise for Mendy, who began his career as thirdchoice keeper at French minnows Cherbourg. Released after two relegations, he spent a year without a club before joining Marseille on a one-year amateur contract on minimum salary in 2015.
A year later he joined Ligue 2 Reims, where he was first spotted by current Chelsea goalkeeping coach Christophe Lollichon after helping the club from the Champagne region reach the top flight.
Mendy then joined Rennes last year and helped the Brittany team to qualify for the Champions League.
He had played only one match this season before Chelsea technical director Petr Cech, who also made the move from Rennes to Stamford Bridge as a player in 2004, persuaded the Blues to sign him.
Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia said: “As soon our technical team identified Edouard as the most suitable goalkeeper to complement our existing group, there was only one player we wanted to bring in.” His arrival is bad news, however, for Kepa, who has endured a torrid time since joining for a record £71.6m from Athletic Bilbao as Thibaut Courtois’ replacement in 2018.
He infamously refused to be substituted by Maurizio Sarri for the penalty shoot-out at the Carabao Cup final in February 2019. And this season he appears to have lost all confidence.