Edouard Mendy has told talkSPORT that playing for Chelsea makes him proud but signing for the Blues isn’t his ultimate objective.
Chelsea completed the signing of the Senegal international last month, with Frank Lampard understood to be keen on finding a replacement for the error-prone Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Mendy indeed looks like Chelsea’s new first-choice keeper, having started against Crystal Palace in the Premier League, against Tottenham in the Carabao Cup as well as in the Blues’ Champions League opener earlier this week.
He didn’t start the Blues’ last Premier League encounter, however, as he sustained a thigh injury on international duty with Senegal.
His journey to Stamford Bridge is made all the more inspiring by the fact that he was without a club five years ago, having been released by French third division side Cherbourg a year earlier.
But the 6ft 6ins star has enjoyed a meteoric rise up the football pyramid in recent years and now finds himself at one of Europe’s biggest clubs.
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However, he dispelled the suggestion that he was bought as a result of Kepa’s bad form last season, claiming he first heard of Chelsea’s interest in him before he signed for previous club Rennes in the summer of 2019.
Mendy exclusively told talkSPORT: “When I heard about Chelsea’s interest, it was actually when I was at Reims, before I joined Rennes.
“It was of course quite unbelievable to hear that, particularly in my case as three years before I’d been without a club.
“When you hear about something like that, you have to leave it to one side because it can be distracting. But it worked out for the best, I played my season in France and it went very well and when the offer was formally made I did all that I could to join Chelsea because they’re a club I’ve loved for years.
“It’s a real source of pride for me. I wouldn’t say this is the end and ultimate objective but it’s true it’s a real step in the right direction for me as a player.”
And when asked specifically what his ambitions are for this season and beyond, Mendy added: “I’m someone with a lot of ambitions and a lot of goals but I prefer to keep them to myself.
“They’re things that motivate me to do my best every single day. I’m someone who likes to take things step by step, I don’t like to jump ahead of myself, I like to get to the next level before I carry on forward.
“I work every day to do the best for my team so I have a lot of ambitions as anyone would when they join a team as big as Chelsea.”
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