Goalkeeper was close to taking a
Job in a shop when a trial sparked a journey that has led to a
Champions League final
Édouard Mendy was on the verge of giving up his dream six years ago. After 12 months without a club, he was close to falling through the cracks. His career was at a dead end, he had moved back into his parents’ flat in the Le Havre suburb of Caucriauville and he had no idea how he was going to support his partner, who was pregnant with their first child.
Nothing had gone right for Mendy after Cherbourg, a third-tier team in
France, released him in the summer of 2014. The agent who was supposed to find him a new opportunity stopped taking his messages until it was too late to arrange a transfer and it was not long before the goalkeeper found himself training alone and fretting about how a 23-year-old free agent could possibly provide for a young family.