Edouard Mendy’s injury broke the hearts of most Chelsea fans and indeed that of the club’s manager, Frank Lampard because he was brought into the club to solve the club’s goalkeeping problem. Unfortunately for Chelsea, the 28-year-old Senegalese goalkeeper went to join his national team during the Fifa international break and he got injured while training with the team.
Edouard Mendy’s injury came less than a month after he completed his move from French Ligue 1 club Stade Rennais to Chelsea for a transfer fee worth about €24 million.
Chelsea decided to go for the Senegalese goalkeeper because their first choice goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga, has been committing mistakes in between the sticks a bit frequently; and the second choice goalkeeper, Willy Caballero who is 39-year-old has passed his prime to be too involved in all the matches of the club.
Also read: Kepa Arrizabalaga’s mistakes: Frank Lampard to keep showing support
Though Kepa is the most expensive goalkeeper in the world after Chelsea bought him from Athletic Bilbao for £71 million in 2018, the 25-year-old Spanish goalkeeper has not lived up to expectations. He has however led the club to win a Europa League title in 2019.
So, the coming in of Edouard Mendy suppose to serve as a threat to Kepa and probably improve him due to the competition the Senegalese goalkeeper was expected to bring. But Kepa blew his chance in a bigger proportion in Chelsea’s 2-0 lost to Liverpool on September 20 which forced Frank Lampard to drop him for Caballero in the club’s next Premier League match against West Brom.
Also read: Chelsea goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga made another costly mistake to give Liverpool a win
Unfortunately for Caballero, the match ended 3-3 against the expectations of the club’s fans and that of the coach Frank Lampard. Hence, Mendy came in for Chelsea’s last Premier League match which was against Crystal Palace. It ended 4-0 in favor of the Stanford Bridge club.
After the match, pundits and critics of Kepa concluded that Kepa would have no place in Chelsea’s squad this season especially in Premier League matches. But Kepa insisted during a press conference while on national duty that he believes he would get back to being the club’s number one choice goalkeeper.
As it stands, Kepa has the biggest chance to convince Frank Lampard that he is still worth the £71 million the club paid on him by seizing the opportunity of Edouard Mendy’s injury to re-establish himself at the club.
But he might have fewer days to do so because Mendy has left his national team and has returned to Stamford Bridge for more medication attention. Based on speculations, Edouard Mendy’s injury could keep the Senegalese out for at least 10 days depending on the nature of the injury.
This means that he could miss at least Chelsea’s Premier League match against Southampton on October 17 and probably the club’s UEFA Champions League match against Sevilla on October 20.
If Caballero is not picked ahead of Kepa for those two matches, Kepa could use them as a chance to show his doubters that he is still the £71 million worth goalkeeper Chelsea bought in 2018.
