Chelsea complete £22m keeper deal to leave Kepa in wilderness

Edouard Mendy

Chelsea have announced the signing of goalkeeper Edouard Mendy from Rennes on a five-year deal.

The Senegal international has reportedly cost the Blues around £22million. He will replace the error-prone Kepa Arrizabalaga as the club’s new No.1.

After signing his long-term contract with the Blues, Mendy told the club’s official website: “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.’

Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia added: “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.”

The 6ft 5in keeper has become Lampard’s seventh senior signing of a busy summer. Following on from Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech, Ben Chilwell, Kai Havertz, Thiago Silva and Malang Sarr.

 

WERNER REVEALS ONE MAJOR DOUBT OVER CHELSEA MOVE

Timo Werner has admitted that he was initially unsure about joining Chelsea due to their Champions League struggles.

Chelsea paid just under £50m to bring Werner in from RB Leipzig over the summer, with the striker being one of several high-profile signings at Stamford Bridge recently.

However, it wasn’t easy for the Blues to win the race for his signature. Werner had been heavily linked with Liverpool before moving to Chelsea instead.

And Liverpool’s interest wasn’t the only factor that made the German international think twice before eventually accepting Chelsea’s offer.

The 24-year-old has admitted to SportBild that he was concerned Chelsea’s defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League Round of 16 last season – which finished 7-1 to the German side on aggregate.

“I would be lying if I said it wasn’t like that,” he said.

“The 3-0 home defeat of Chelsea against Bayern hadn’t exactly spoken in favour of going to London.”  Read more…