Rio Ferdinand has hailed Edouard Mendy as ‘one of the signings of last season’ and believes the Chelsea goalie was ‘massively overlooked’ after missing out on the Ballon d’Or shortlist.
Chelsea have the joint-best defensive record in the league after conceding just three goals this season and Mendy has been key in the club’s outstanding start to the campaign.
Last week, Mendy – who won the Champions League in the debut season at the club – produced arguably his best display in a Chelsea shirt as Tuchel’s side survived a late barrage at Brentford to secure a 1-0 victory.
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The Senegalese keeper preserved the Blues’ lead with two top saves in the final 20 minutes at the Brentford Community Stadium before denying Christian Norgaard with an outstanding stop in injury time.
Reflecting on Chelsea’s win on his Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVE YouTube channel, Ferdinand said: ‘Mendy was unreal. He’s got to be one of the signings of last season.
‘Shout out to Frank Lampard for signing him because that was a great bit of business. But what a performance!
‘A goalkeeper that will instil confidence in a backline. You look back and go, “Yeah, my man is protecting us, don’t worry! They breach us, he’s there and they’ve still got another wall to go through.”‘
Ferdinand was also impressed with Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s display versus Brentford and backed Lukaku to rediscover his scoring boots sooner than later after a six-match goal drought.
‘They’ve got a doggedness about them. Ruben Loftus-Cheek in that deep-lying position was magnificent. I want to see him there regularly,’ the ex-Manchester United and England defender added.
‘Lukaku ain’t scored in six games but they’re still winning games, they’re still looking like a team that are going to be capable of challenging. And there’s no doubt in my mind that he comes back and scores a hatful of goals. He’s just having a rough period, all strikers go through that.
‘This Chelsea team are a hard nut to crack.’
Asked whether he thought Mendy’s omission was a surprise, Ferdinand said: ‘Yeah, I do. ‘I think Mendy is massively overlooked. His performances, the amount of clean sheets he’s had… nobody has had more clean sheets in the Premier League since Thomas Tuchel has been here.
‘He’s been tremendous. Every game I’ve watched him live and every game I’ve watched on the TV, he’s done something in the game that makes me go: “That’s why they’ve bought him.”
‘He can be quiet for the whole game and then he just pulls out that save and that’s concentration. They’re the best goalkeepers.’
