The struggles of Edouard Mendy: I was unemployed when I was 22 years old

Edouard Mendy was excellent between the sticks for Chelsea as they knocked out Real Madrid at the semi-final stage of the Champions League on Wednesday night, with the Frenchman pulling off a couple of brilliant saves to deny Karim Benzema at Stamford Bridge.

The Chelsea goalkeeper got a strong hand to Benzema's strike from the edge of the area before pulling off a great save to prevent his compatriot from scoring header in the first half.

When the game was over, Mendy took to social media to share a video from Chelsea's dressing room. His excitement after having qualified for his first-ever Champions League final was apparent, and taking into account what he has gone through to reach that point in his career, his achievement is well earned, too.

Mendy joined Chelsea from Rennes in September 2020 for a fee of 25 million euros, with 80m euro signing Kepa Arrizabalaga being relegated to the bench shortly after the former's arrival.

However, not everything has been always perfect for Mendy, whose career kicked off at the age of 13 at Le Havre's academy.

Aged 22, Mendy found himself unemployed after his agent had promised him a move to the Premier League.

"An agent dumped me," Mendy told Le Parisien.

"I had full confidence in him and he dumped me. He told me that I was going to sign for an English team, but [he said] that I had to be patient. After [that] summer, I called him and he didn't answer.

"I trained alone, waiting for an opportunity. That experience helped me see things differently."

Reports in France also claimed that one friend of Mendy suggested that the goalkeeper could take charge of his clothes shop in Le Havre.

However, Mendy didn't give up and joined Marseille's reserves in pursuit of a second chance. His work paid dividends and after moving to Reims in search of game time, he joined Rennes, where he stayed for one season before signing for Chelsea.