In 2016, Edouard Mendy was a substitute in the subsidiary of Olympique de Marseille. The goalkeeper was a total unknown to the world of football, to the point of considering dedicating himself to another profession. However, the Senegalese’s perseverance, coupled with luck, have allowed him to be proclaimed today as the best goalkeeper in the world for FIFA at The Best awards. Mendy was champion of the Champions League with Chelsea and his saves were decisive in giving the “Blues” the second Champions League in their history.
The goalkeeper did not have a hopeful start in the world of football. At the age of 19, Mendy was in the modest Municipality Le Havre of Division of Honor (equivalent to the sixth division of Gallic football). Until the age of 22, he was the third goalkeeper for Cherbourg in the French fifth division and then he went on to reserve for Olympique de Marseille. With OM he alternated ownership with substitution and his good performances served him to go on loan to Stade Reims.
In Ligue 2, Edouard Mendy landed as the third goalkeeper of a team that had Johan Carraso settled in the starting lineup. In 2016/2017, an expulsion of the veteran goalkeeper against Amiens on the first day of Ligue 2 opened the doors for him to debut as a professional. His impact was such that, after that game, nobody moved him from the eleven of the team coached by David Guion. Reims were promoted to Ligue 1 and Mendy established himself as one of the best goalkeepers in the category, something that earned him a €4 million signing with Rennes in 2019.
The evolution of the Senegalese was unstoppable. In French Brittany, Edouard Mendy emerged as a fundamental pillar for Rennes to qualify for the first time in its history to the group stage of the Champions League. The performance treasured by the goalkeeper caught the attention of Chelsea, who needed a starting goalkeeper after Kepa’s irregular performance and did not hesitate to do the same formula that he used in his day with Cech, also signed from Rennes and who, like Mendy, was champion of the Champions League with the London team. Without a doubt, the history of the Senegalese is unique in every way, since in 2016 he was not even a starter in a French fourth division.