Edouard Mendy had only ever won the French Ligue 2 title before he joined Chelsea in 2020, but his list of club honours has only been heading in one direction since he joined the Blues, with the goalkeeper experiencing the taste of winning trophies on numerous occasions.
The Senegalese goalkeeper won both the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup in 2021/22 to add to the Champions League winners' medal he received in his debut season in west London. Edou was also influential in his native Senegal being crowned champions of Africa for the first time in the country’s history earlier this year.
Speaking of the emotions of these glorious nights, Edou, in our exclusive 'In My Own Words' video interview, says that the winning feeling is something he would love to get used to.
‘I’ve also experienced some absolutely joyous moments - with AFCON, the Champions League and the Super Cup, winning trophies - when you win them it becomes an addiction. When you live your life in competition, you always want to be in the final to win,’ says Mendy.
‘I’ve been lucky enough to experience that at club level and with my national team who won AFCON for the first time in our history. So, it’s a mix of a lot of emotions but enormously positive ones which brings huge amounts of pride to my family. And I’m proud to see them so happy.’
Mendy has had a phenomenal rise to the top between the sticks, from being fourth-choice goalkeeper at Marseille just seven years ago, to a regular name on Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea team sheet.
‘For my neighbourhood Caucriauville and for my town Le Havre these are a really big deal and in Le Havre we have a big Senegalese community so all of them were dancing in the streets, chanting my name - I’ve seen some videos, it’s crazy stuff! And we didn’t really have the time to really take it in because on Sunday we had another final,’ Edou adds.
‘So, I will take the time to really enjoy it at the end of the season. But my reality is what every footballer dreams of.’
His performances for Chelsea in big finals has seen his personal following grow in stature, too, and this is something Edou himself has noticed.
‘We played in Eswatini - it’s a place where very few people go and there were people there that recognised me. If I’d been playing for Rennes, no one would have recognised me!’ Edou laughs.
‘Even if I go back to Dakar, it’s no longer the same - even if I had a status before, my status has been boosted even further. And that means more responsibility, but I’ve really felt the difference as soon as I signed for Chelsea and knew that I was at a really big club.’