Having already spent a lot of money on their attack and defence, Chelsea decided a new goalkeeper was needed to bring more competition to Kepa Arrizabalaga.
The Spaniard has failed to fully live up to his £71m price tag, and Frank Lampard felt a new shot stopper at the club pushing for a first-team job would help him increase his level.
A search was ongoing for some time, with Édouard Mendy eventually signed from Rennes in Ligue 1 for around £22m, although he doesn’t appear to have been the first choice.
Among those ahead of him seemed to be Mike Maignan, currently at Lille, which was backed up by a number of stories dating back to February, when he was labelled their ‘priority’.
The reason why Chelsea never went any further after approaching them ‘in the early stages of the market’, according to L’Equipe, was because the club in the north of France were asking for €35m.
That was a fee the Blues weren’t prepared to pay, and they must have then moved onto other targets, eventually leading them to Mendy.
