Chelsea
have signed goalkeeper Edouard Mendy from Rennes for £22m on a five-year
deal.
The 28-year-old becomes Chelsea's seventh first-team signing of the summer
following the arrivals of Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner, Ben Chilwell, Thiago
Silva, Malang Sarr and Kai Havertz.
Mendy will compete with Kepa Arrizabalaga and Willy Caballero to be the
club's No 1.
Mendy is following in the footsteps of Petr Cech - now Chelsea's technical
and performance adviser - who made the same move from Rennes to Stamford
Bridge in the summer of 2004.
The 28-year-old kept nine clean sheets in 24 Ligue 1 appearances last season
with Rennes, helping them to finish third and qualify for the Champions
League for the first time in their history.
Mendy said: "I am 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 all of
his coaching staff. I look forward to meeting my team-mates and can't wait
to get started."
On signing Mendy, Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia said: "As soon as Petr
Cech and 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.
"Edouard arrives following a season of real success with Rennes, he is
ambitious for more, and we welcome him to our club."
Kepa has started the season as Chelsea's first-choice goalkeeper but made a
mistake for Brighton's goal in the Blues' 3-1 opening-weekend win and was at
fault for one of Liverpool's strikes in the champions' 2-0 victory at
Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Carra: Kepa going through a nightmare
Lampard revealed goalkeeper Kepa had put his hands up and conceded he made a
mistake to his teammates after Mane intercepted his pass to score
Liverpool's second, and the Chelsea boss says rebuilding the Spaniard's
confidence is now key.
However, Sky Sports' Jamie Carragher said the Blues' shot-stopper is in a
difficult situation.
"As players, you go through tough times at different times in your career
and you actually feel a bit sorry for Kepa now," said Carragher. "There's a
new goalkeeper coming in so I don't think there's much more we can say about
the goalkeeper.
"It must be tough for him and he's going through a really tough period. Our
job is to be critical at times, but I remember when I went through a similar
period earlier in my career. It wasn't going great and he's going through
his own nightmare at the moment."
Neville: No top goalkeeper, no league
title
Sky Sports' Gary Neville told Monday Night Football after Chelsea's win at
Brighton:
"I don't think he [Lampard] is [happy with Kepa]. I wouldn't be. I know full
well, having been in a coaching position, been in a changing room - you have
to back your goalkeeper. You must back your players, you have to support
them publicly. But privately, that goal... it's a really poor goal to give
away.
"He conceded so many goals from outside the box last season, he's conceded
another one tonight and it will cost you. If you don't have a top
goalkeeper, you won't win that league.
"At this moment in time, he makes far too many mistakes. He lets too many
goals into the back of his net that should be saved. 19 goals conceded from
outside the box - that is a sorry story for a £70m goalkeeper.
"A few years ago, I used to be quite critical of Loris Karius and Simon
Mignolet - 50 goals a season, but as soon as Alisson came, everything became
normal. It was the same at Manchester United in my time, when we had that
period between Peter Schmeichel and Edwin van der Sar. As soon as Van der
Sar came, it became normal.
"Same with Manchester City in Pep Guardiola's first season. Claudio Bravo
kept letting goals in from everywhere and the save-to-shots ratio was poor.
As soon as Ederson comes in, everything becomes really normal.
"If you don't have your goalkeeper right, you are going to massively
struggle to get where you need to get to. You certainly will never win a
league."
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