Report: Chelsea in contact with Rennes over goalkeeper Edouard Mendy

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Chelsea have reportedly made an enquiry over Rennes goalkeeper Edouard Mendy after a recommendation from the club’s goalkeeping chief Christophe Lollichon.

As we’ve reported before, Lollichon, along with Petr Cech, has been tasked to find a potential new goalkeeper this summer.

Lollichon spent almost 20 years as a goalkeeping coach in France; 11 years at Nantes and eight years at Rennes, and it wouldn’t be surprising if he still has extensive knowledge about goalkeepers in the Ligue 1, particularly one of his old clubs.

And according to a report from the Daily Mail, after a recommendation from Lollichon, the Blues have contacted Rennes about Mendy.

The 28-year-old is said to be considered as a cheaper alternative and the Blues plan to provide competition for Kepa Arrizabalaga who had a poor season.

The report added that Chelsea and Rennes have also been in contact over Fikayo Tomori’s potential loan move to France.

Although Frank Lampard alternated his centre-back pairings throughout the 2019/20 season, Tomori was arguably the fourth-choice behind the more experienced Kurt Zouma, Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen.

Should Chelsea sign a new centre-back, as they reportedly plan to do this summer, a loan spell at Rennes for Tomori where he could play regularly doesn’t sound like a bad idea.

It could also help Chelsea’s reported pursuit of Mendy.

The Senegalese international recorded nine clean-sheets from 24 games this season. Although it does not seem impressive, percentage-wise, his 37.5% clean-sheet rate is still considerably better than Arrizabalaga’s 24.2% (eight clean-sheets from 33 games).

In terms of shot-stopping, Mendy’s 78.4% save percentage also edges the Chelsea goalkeeper’s 54.5%.

Standing at 6ft 5ins (1.97m) tall, it comes as a no surprise that Mendy was also superior in the air, stopping 10.2% crosses coming into his box (FBref) compared to Arrizabalaga’s 7.2% (FBref).

Taking into account the reported fees Chelsea would have to spend on other targets such as Kai Havertz and Ben Chilwell, bringing in a relatively cheaper upgrade rather than another blockbuster signing would make perfect sense.