New Chelsea signing Edouard Mendy admits he has a responsibility to succeed as the club's first ever African goalkeeper.
Senegal international Mendy joined Chelsea last week from Rennes and he knows he arrives at a club with a rich tradition of African stars.
While born and raised in France, Mendy qualifies for Senegal through his family and is well aware of how the likes of Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Samuel Eto'o and John Obi Mikel brought success to Chelsea.
Speaking to the club's media team via Sport-Express, Mendy declared: "The brightest African talents have played for this club: Drogba, Essien, Eto'o, Mikel.
"When you see this, you want to follow in their footsteps. As for the goalkeepers, I am the first, and I am very proud of this, this is a great responsibility."
As for his match fitness, Mendy added: "Although I haven't played for a while, I trained with Rennes as usual. We recently played a match behind closed doors and I took part. I feel great."
Mendy was born to a Senegalese mother and a Bissau-Guinean father. In November 2016, the goalkeeper, then with Reims, was called-up by Guinea-Bissau to play friendly matches against Portuguese clubs Belenenses and Estoril. Mendy chose to honour his father by playing for the Bissau-Guinean national team before he passed away.
Shortly after, he was selected by Guinea-Bissau to play the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations for them, but ultimately rejected the call and pledged his future to Senegal.
- updated September 28
