UK: 18+ USA: 21+ | Begambleaware.org | T&Cs apply | Play Responsibly
Chelsea are willing to let goalkeeper Edouard Mendy depart the club this summer and look for a replacement in the next transfer window, according to a series of new reports.
The Senegalese international won the initial competition to replace Kepa Arrizabalaga as the Blues’ starting goalkeeper following his arrival from Rennes in the summer of 2020.
Mendy Unlikely to Get Back to No.1
Chelsea won the Champions League, Club World Cup, and UEFA Super Cup with Mendy in goal, but he has been hardly seen throughout the 2022-23 season.
A fractured finger has limited the 31-year-old to just 11 games in all competitions, with just one clean sheet in nine Premier League appearances.
Kepa relegated the ex-Rennes player to the bench for four Premier League games and the same number of Champions League contests before Mendy underwent surgery in January.
The Spaniard has started the previous 16 games in goal for Chelsea in all competitions, but Mendy is now back in training and he will be targeting a return before the conclusion of the season.
Having lost his untouchable status, The Mirror newspaper now reports that Mendy will be on Chelsea’s transfer list this summer, and that he is free to seek a new club ahead of next season.
The Senegalese international is under contract at Stamford Bridge for another two years, but according to reports, the Blues have been unable to sign him to a new long-term deal due to a disagreement over his wage demands.
In the previous two and a half years at the Blues, Mendy has posted 49 clean sheets in 104 Chelsea games, and the club has been connected to a variety of potential replacements.
Jordan Pickford of Everton and Diogo Costa of Porto have both been linked with moves to Stamford Bridge, despite signing new contracts with their respective teams./
Raya to Replace Mendy in Goal for Chelsea?
David Raya, the Brentford and Spain goalkeeper, has also been suggested as a prospective target, and the 27-year-old intimated recently that he may be open to leaving the Bees in the summer after rejecting two contract extension offers.
The Brentford goalkeeper recently spoke to The Athletic where he let his situation be known.
“I turned down two contracts, one last year and one this January. They weren’t the offers we were looking for. I can only say that,” Raya told the sports media outlet.
” I have a contract here, so I’m willing to finish that, but you never know what’s going to happen in the summer,” Raya said, “Maybe the club wants to sell, maybe not. Maybe I want to stay. I want to focus on football and see what happens.”
“The club will decide the price and if a club wants to pay money, that will be it. I’m not worried about that. I’m not in charge of that,” he continued.
“I have big ambitions. I want to play in Europe and I want to fight to win a title,” Raya added, “I want to fight to win a European title. I trust myself to be able to play in those types of games.”
Subscribe to Punditfeed on Google News for all the latest updates from the world of sports!
