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Chelsea have agreed to sign goalkeeper Édouard Mendy from Rennes for £22 million.
The Senegalese international will become Frank Lampard’s seventh summer signing and takes the club’s spending in the transfer market well over the £200 million mark.
Rennes had tried to have Olivier Giroud included as part of the deal, and have also enquired about taking Fikayo Tomori on loan, but, at this stage, it seems a strictly cash arrangement.
Lampard has long been in the market for a replacement for Kepa Arrizabalaga, who had an indifferent season last campaign, and conceded a soft goal in the opening match of this season against Brighton last weekend. He compounded that with another terrible mistake that gifted Liverpool their second goal in Sunday’s defeat at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea were hoping to sell him but, having found nobody will to take him for what they consider a fair price, he will instead stay and compete for the number one jersey with Mendy, a Senegalese international.
They also have veteran Willy Caballero at their disposal.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.