Edouard
Mendy says he feels a responsibility to be a success at Chelsea in order to
encourage other Premier League sides to invest in African goalkeepers.
The 28-year-old Senegal international is currently the only African 'keeper
in the English top flight following his £22m move to Stamford Bridge from
Rennes last month.
Mendy has already established himself as Chelsea's No 1 after conceding just
one goal in his first three games, raising hopes that he could be the answer
to the Blues' goalkeeping issues.
But he is unsure why so few of his fellow African keepers have been given an
opportunity in the Premier League, saying: "When you look at other leagues,
there are more playing around Europe; in France, there are four or five at
least. Perhaps it's something that can be explained in different ways.
"There's lots of African players in the Premier League and the Premier
League is the best league in the world, so that's a really positive thing.
But there are only a few African goalkeepers.
"Do I feel a particular pressure about that? Not really. It's a source of
pride for me to be an African goalkeeper in the Premier League. It's up to
me to show, as an African goalkeeper, that I can really perform at this
level and perhaps change people's mentalities of these things.
"I just need to make sure that I keep working hard and doing my best in
matches so that other goalkeepers can follow me into this league."
'I want to prove Cech right'
Chelsea goalkeeping great, Petr Cech, who is now an adviser for the club,
was a key figure in identifying Mendy as the Blues' new keeper.
Mendy and Cech - who has been named in Chelsea's Premier League squad as
emergency back-up - both played for Rennes before making the move to
Stamford Bridge, and Mendy says he now wants to show Cech was right to place
his faith in him.
"I had been aware that Petr Cech had been watching my matches for a number
of years," explained Mendy. "It's always really pleasing to hear that Cech
has been watching me and saying that he liked my profile and the way I was
performing.
"After my season at Rennes, the offer came in from Chelsea and it's a source
of great pride for me to have joined this club.
"It's true that Cech played a particularly important role in the transfer,
so now it's up to me to show that they were right to have brought me to the
club.
'Unemployment made me who I am'
Mendy establishing himself as Chelsea's No 1 caps a remarkable rise for the
28-year-old, who was unemployed and contemplating his future in football
just six years ago.
Mendy spent a year without a team due to a disagreement with his former
agent and was forced to claim unemployment support while training with his
former club's reserve side just to stay fit.
He finally got his break when he was offered a trial by Marseille in 2015,
but Mendy says those tough times have helped to make him the player he is
today.
He said: "It was really very difficult, because on the one hand you had the
anger of finding yourself without a club because of the agent who I was
with, but there's also the disappointment of not being able to play at the
weekends, not being able to do what I love, not being able to compete.
"I immediately went back to the club I joined when I was young and I was
training with the reserves there every morning. I would go to the gym or I
would go with my brother to the pitch to practice shot-stopping.
"I had the unemployment support at that time, so I could dedicate myself
totally to football. But it was incredibly difficult, and also my partner
was expecting our first baby. So the unemployment support wasn't going to be
enough for us - we needed something else, so I did start looking for other
work.
"But then I had the opportunity to go to Marseille. I was given a trial, and
when I went down there, I gave absolutely everything to get the opportunity
to join that club. Fortunately for me, it worked, and when it did, it was
like a complete release for me.
"A year is a very long time for a footballer, but fortunately, I could
always count on my family. There were times when it was really difficult but
my family could help me through that, to bounce back and get where I am
today.
"I had many, many doubts during that time about whether I would carry on.
But I would look back at those moments and say it's thanks to them that I am
where I am today and that my family is also able to benefit from football."
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