Why Édouard Mendy should be African Footballer of the Year
First African goalkeeper to win the UEFA Champions League. Édouard Mendy will have quite a story to tell his grandchildren in the future.
Amongst all of the redemption and heart-warming stories within Chelsea’s improbable Champions League title this season, perhaps none are more striking than Senegalese goalkeeper Édouard Mendy’s.
After being released from French lower league side AS Cherbourg in 2014 aged 22 Mendy struggled to find a new club, leading him to register for unemployment and consider ending his dreams of becoming a footballer. If you told him then that he would be the number one goalkeeper for one of the biggest clubs in the world in 2021, let alone lifting the Champions League trophy, he almost surely would have thought you were crazy. It was unimaginable. But it happened.
Mendy arrived at Chelsea this season relatively unknown and, given the shockingly poor performances of £71m goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, was not faced with a lot of pressure. Regardless, he exceeded every expectation of him with flying colours.
He conceded one goal in his Blues debut against Tottenham in the EFL Cup as they lost 5-4 in penalties, but despite the loss he showed his quality - making numerous big saves and giving Chelsea fans a newfound confidence in their goalkeeper.
He then went the next two months (6 matches) without conceding a single goal, including a shutout in his Champions League debut against Sevilla. It was a marked improvement from his European exploits with Stade Rennais in the Europa League last season, where he conceded 6 goals in 4 games (including a red card in the fifth minute in a 1-0 loss to Romain CFR Cluj).
He experienced a rough patch of form in December, making a rather poor mistake leading to a goal against Leeds, before consecutive losses to Chelsea and Wolves. He bounced back with a clean sheet against West Ham, before conceding three goals to both Arsenal and Manchester City in the following two weeks. But for Mendy, who was about to end his footballing career in 2015 had it not been for his friend and former teammate Ted Lavie recommending him to Marseille to fill a goalkeeping vacancy in the reserve team, this was just a small blip in his story.
Mendy joined Marseille for the 2015/16 season as the fourth string goalkeeper, playing as a backup for the B team. His trial with the club was so good that he convinced the club to offer him a one-year amateur contract on a minimum salary, allowing him to train and develop at one of France’s biggest clubs, although he only played a handful of times for the reserve team.
The next season he moved to Ligue 2 side Reims as a backup, signing his first ever professional contract. He impressed in the limited chances he got, so much so that he earned the starting role for the next season - a first in his career.
He was solid as they won the Ligue 2 title and thus earned promotion to the first division. He played every game in his first season in top-flight football as Reims exceeded expectations to finish eighth.
His performances were impressive enough to convince Stade Rennais to purchase him for around £4m. He performed even better at the Brittany-based side, keeping nine clean sheets in 24 matches to help his side finish third and qualify for the UEFA Champions League.
It was during Mendy’s time at Rennes that he made his Senegal debut. Interestingly enough, he was initially called up to the Guinea-Bissau camp for a friendly in 2016, choosing to represent the country of his father who was very ill at the time. Since the match was not regulated by FIFA, he knew that playing for Guinea-Bissau this time would not prevent him from eventually playing for the country of his mother, Senegal. Mendy was not impressed by the Guinea-Bissau setup and eventually decided to pledge his international future to the Teranga Lions - where he incidentally made his debut against Guinea-Bissau.
Once again, Mendy became the first-choice goalkeeper and started in Senegal’s first two AFCON 2019 matches before a broken finger forced him to withdraw from the squad. Senegal proceeded to reach the final of the tournament without him, losing 1-0 to Algeria. Mendy now heads into the next AFCON as one of the best African goalkeepers, if not the best, as the Teranga Lions look to win the continental spectacle.
However, arguably more important for his career, it was at Rennes that Chelsea’s legendary goalkeeper Petr Cech scouted Mendy and eventually convinced the London club’s board to sign him. With Kepa continuing to disappoint the Chelsea faithful with shocker after shocker, Chelsea were forced to buy a replacement and it was Mendy they chose, following the recommendation of their iconic goalkeeper and paying Rennes £22m to secure his signature.
Mendy’s excellent save against Sevilla.
Mendy had been playing fairly well under Frank Lampard in his first few months at Chelsea, adjusting incredibly well to a new league and it’s playing style, something his Spanish predecessor in goal failed to do. Mendy was keeping the defense sturdy, but the attack was floundering - especially the new signings Timo Werner and Kai Havertz. Following a 2-0 loss to Leicester Lampard was sacked and former PSG manager Thomas Tuchel was appointed Chelsea boss.
After proving himself as the number one under Lampard Mendy had to do the same for Tuchel and just that he did. In his first five games under the German manager he conceded just two goals, keeping three clean sheets. It was in the UEFA Champions League knockout stages that Mendy really established himself as a top-class goalkeeper, first keeping a clean sheet in both Round of 16 legs against Atletico Madrid as Chelsea advanced 2-0 on aggregate.
In the first leg of the quarter-finals against Porto Mendy kept another sheet as his side won 2-0, and conceded one goal in the second leg. Out all of the UCL knockout opponents that the Blues faced this season including Manchester City and Real Madrid, it was actually Porto that gave the Chelsea defense the most trouble as they created far more threatening chances. Had it not been for Mendy, it’s possible that the London side could have crashed out in the Quarter-Finals.
He similarly conceded conceded one goal over two legs to Real Madrid, although Mendy was praised even more for his shot-stopping efforts, notably making a crucial save on a thunderous strike from Karim Benzema. Back in the Premier League he saved Sergio Aguero’s panenka penalty in a 2-1 win over then EPL Champions-elect Manchester City, and continued his fine form to finish out the domestic campaign as Chelsea finished in a top four spot.
In the Champions League final against City Mendy did not have much to do thanks to the solid defense ahead of him and the lackluster nature of the City attacks. Regardless, he kept a clean sheet as his side won 1-0 to lift the most prestigious trophy in club football. It was historic in many senses: he kept nine clean sheets in 12 UCL games - conceding only three goals and equalling the record for the most clean sheets in a UCL campaign. Perhaps more significantly: he became the first African and first Black African goalkeeper to win the UEFA Champions League. It is worth noting that Bruce Grobbelaar won the European Cup with Liverpool in 1984, however this was before the modern era of the Champions League and Grobbelaar was not black.
Cameroonian goalkeeper Andre Onana was arguably the best African goalkeeper a few seasons ago for his performances with Ajax in the UCL.
The goalkeeper position has long been dominated by white men, with the likes of Cameroonian goalkeeper Andre Onana even claiming an Italian side refused to sign him because he was black. A Black goalkeeper in elite European football is a rare sight, with the most prominent example being Brazilian Dida at AC Milan from 2000-2010. Very few Black goalkeepers have been able to advance to the next level due to the prejudice that exists against Black players in goal. This is why Mendy’s UCL victory is so significant - he is a pioneer.
It is for this reason that Édouard Mendy should win the African Footballer of the Year award. Assuming he keeps up a decent level of performances to close out the year, only the likes of Riyad Mahrez and maybe Achraf Hakimi have played well enough this season to warrant a place in the discussions, and I think it’s not outlandish to say Mendy has been better than both of them. Aside from the historic nature of his accomplishments and the heart-warming story of his rise to the top, the 6’6 shot stopper has imposed himself as not only the Chelsea and Senegal number one, but also as one of the best goalkeepers in the world. This needs to be rewarded.
