The story of Edouard Mendy is one of a player who was without a job just a few years ago, to being the number one goalkeeper at Chelsea. Mendy has detailed how difficult it was without a job, and the pressure of having a baby.
Mendy began his professional career at Cherbourg in 2011, and spent three seasons with the third-division French outfit before being released at the end of his contract.
Following his departure from Cherbourg, Mendy was left unemployed for a year. In 2015, Marseille allowed him to spend a season in their reserve team in a backup capacity behind Florian Escales. He never got a chance to feature, before Reims signed him permanently a year after.
After 85 appearances in three seasons for Reims, he did enough to impress Rennes, and helped the French side finish in third place last season and thus seal a place in the Champions League. And a year later, he’s now Chelsea’s number one goalkeeper.
Speaking ahead of the Manchester United game this weekend, Mendy has detailed how difficult it was for him some years ago.
He said: “Back then when I got the message from my agent at the time I started to go back to the club I trained in when I was young. I was with the reserves there every morning,” he told a press conference on Thursday. “In afternoons I’d go to the gym or go with my brother to the pitch to practice my shot-stopping.
“I had unemployment support at that time so I could dedicate myself totally to football. But it was incredibly difficult and so my partner was expecting our first baby. Unemployment support wasn’t going to be enough for us. We needed something else so I started looking for other work. “Then I had the opportunity to go to Marseille and I was given a trial there. It was just a case of giving my everything to get the opportunity to join that club. Fortunately for me it worked and when it did it was a relief for me.
“One year without football is an incredibly long time and I had many doubts during that time. But it was thanks to my family who helped so much to keep me strong. I had my doubts over whether to carry on but I look now and say it is thanks to those that I am where I am today and my family are able to benefit from where I have got to with football.”
Mendy reveals how he suffered before he signed up for Chelsea
The story of Edouard Mendy is one of a player who was without a job just a few years ago, to being the number one goalkeeper at Chelsea. Mendy has detailed how difficult it was without a job, and the pressure of having a baby.
Mendy began his professional career at Cherbourg in 2011, and spent three seasons with the third-division French outfit before being released at the end of his contract.
Following his departure from Cherbourg, Mendy was left unemployed for a year. In 2015, Marseille allowed him to spend a season in their reserve team in a backup capacity behind Florian Escales. He never got a chance to feature, before Reims signed him permanently a year after.
After 85 appearances in three seasons for Reims, he did enough to impress Rennes, and helped the French side finish in third place last season and thus seal a place in the Champions League. And a year later, he’s now Chelsea’s number one goalkeeper.
Speaking ahead of the Manchester United game this weekend, Mendy has detailed how difficult it was for him some years ago. He said: “Back then when I got the message from my agent at the time I started to go back to the club I trained in when I was young. I was with the reserves there every morning,” he told a press conference on Thursday. “In afternoons I’d go to the gym or go with my brother to the pitch to practice my shot-stopping.
“I had unemployment support at that time so I could dedicate myself totally to football. But it was incredibly difficult and so my partner was expecting our first baby. Unemployment support wasn’t going to be enough for us. We needed something else so I started looking for other work.
“Then I had the opportunity to go to Marseille and I was given a trial there. It was just a case of giving my everything to get the opportunity to join that club. Fortunately for me it worked and when it did it was a relief for me.
“One year without football is an incredibly long time and I had many doubts during that time. But it was thanks to my family who helped so much to keep me strong. I had my doubts over whether to carry on but I look now and say it is thanks to those that I am where I am today and my family are able to benefit from where I have got to with football.”
“One year without football is an incredibly long time and I had many doubts during that time. But it was thanks to my family who helped so much to keep me strong. I had my doubts over whether to carry on but I look now and say it is thanks to those that I am where I am today and my family are able to benefit from where I have got to with football.”