Édouard Mendy believes saving his football career after a year on the dole has set him up to succeed at Chelsea.
The Senegal goalkeeper joined Chelsea in a £22m deal from Rennes last month, but in 2014 he was without a club and fearing for his future in the sport. Mendy took unemployment benefit in France after being released by Cherbourg, and his partner fell pregnant while he was battling to find a club.
After a year in the wilderness and training with Le Havre’s reserves, Mendy secured a move to Marseille and the chance to resurrect his career. Now the France-born 28-year-old is Senegal’s and Chelsea’s No 1, and he feels that year of adversity has proved the making of him.
“If someone had said to me six years ago when I didn’t have a club that I would end up here, I wouldn’t have even bothered looking at or listening to them,” Mendy said. I did genuinely have my doubts about whether I would carry on. But I look at it now and say that it’s thanks to those moments that I am where I am today, and my family has also been able to benefit from where I’ve got to with my football.
“Back then when I got the message from my agent at the time I started immediately to go back to the club where I trained when I was young, Le Havre, and I was training with the reserves there every morning. In the afternoon I would go to the gym or to the pitch with my brother, to practise shot stopping.
“I had to take unemployment support at that time so I could dedicate myself totally to football … It was incredibly difficult and also my partner was expecting our first baby. And so the unemployment support wasn’t going to be enough for us, we needed something else, and so I did start looking for other work.
“But then I had the opportunity to go to Marseille and I was given a trial there. Fortunately for me it worked, and when it did it was like a complete relief for me. Because one year to go without football is an incredibly long time. I had many, many doubts during that time. But it was thanks to my family who helped so much in those moments to keep me strong.”
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