Over the past 15 years, Christophe Lollichon has been contracted to Chelsea in some shape or form.
Starting off as a goalkeeping coach, back when Petr Cech was still a player at Stamford Bridge, he then moved onto other ventures within the Blues, most recently taking care of their goalkeepers out on loan.
He’s overseen the development of players such as Nathan Baxter, who most recently spent a season in the Championship at Hull City; a player he believes has Premier League potential.
However, one of the more recent inputs he has had at Chelsea that he’s very proud of is the signing of Edouard Mendy, who has quickly established himself as the number one man between the sticks.
He’s been key to them winning the Champions League last season, and has completely supplanted Keep Arrizabalaga at Stamford Bridge.
Speaking to Foot Mercato, Lollichon explained how the transfer of Mendy to Chelsea came about, with it being a joint effort between himself and Cech.
He said: “Edouard Mendy was the cherry on top. It required very discreet work. I hadn’t spoken to anyone about it, but I was following him from his first games in Ligue 2 at Reims. I’d only told Petr Cech, then at Arsenal. I told him to look at him and to tell me what he thought. He said ‘not bad’.
“Then, at one point at Chelsea, there was need of a new goalkeeper, but there wasn’t a lot on the market. Either that or they asked for a lot of money. I told Petr: ‘Remember Edouard, I’m still following him’. He replied: ‘OK, but can he?’. I then said: ‘Watch him now that your a technical chief at Chelsea, Put your eyes on him’. In the end, he tells me we have to go for it. That’s what we do. The success is amazing!”
