Chelsea Have Completed The Signing Of Goalkeeper Edouard Mendy From Rennes.

Chelsea has completed the signing of goalkeeper Edouard Mendy from French club Stade Rennes for a £22million transfer fee.

The Senegalese international signed a five-year contract with the Blues, which will keep him at Stamford Bridge until June 2025.

He is set to compete with the world most expensive goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga '25' who joined Chelsea in 2018 from Ahtletic Bilbao for £71m, and Willy Caballero '38' for a starting spot between the posts in the season ahead.

Mendy expressed his excitement via the club's website after signing his long-term contract with the Blues. 

"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."

Mendy is not the first goalkeeper to have made the transfer from Rennes to Chelsea, former club legend Petr Cech who is now part of the technical and performance team at Chelsea, also followed the same path back in July 2004.

Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia also admitted that Cech played a huge part in bringing Mendy to Stamford Bridge: 

"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."

See you soon, Edouard! 👍#WelcomeMendy pic.twitter.com/ElkbbifmQj

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 24, 2020

 

Mendy becomes Frank Lampard's seventh summer signing, following the arrival of Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner, Ben Chilwell, Thiago Silva, Kai Havertz, and Malang Sarr who is out on-loan.

Last season for Rennes, Mendy kept nine cleansheets in 24 Ligue 1 appearances, compared to Kepa's eight cleansheets in 33 Premier League appearances.

Mendy joined Rennes ahead of the 2019/20 season, and helped the club qualify for the Champions League for the first time last season, with the French club finishing third in Ligue 1 before the season was ended prematurely due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

The French born shot-stopper, opted to represent Senegal the country of birth of his mother at international level, after declining an invitation to commit to playing for his Father's country Guinea-Bissau at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. He has so far made eight caps for Senegal since his debut in 2018.