ionigeria.com Nigerian Newspaper
EDOUARD MENDY snubbed a six-year contract offer — because Chelsea are not showing him enough “respect” over wages.
The Senegalese keeper has been back training with his club since last week after reaching the World Cup last 16 — but there is still no sign of an agreement.
Mendy, 30, earns around £100,000 a week and wants parity with his Blues rival Kepa Arrizabalaga who picks up almost twice that.
Sources claim Chelsea bosses have even withdrawn their initial offer of a long-term deal as they play hardball with the negotiations — and now there is a stand-off.
And an insider told SunSport: “Edouard is back at Chelsea and he is ready to play.
“But there is a feeling that the contract situation is just going nowhere.
“Edouard has won some huge trophies for Chelsea — but there is a sense that he is not being shown enough respect by the club over a new deal.”
The Blues star still has two and a half years left on his contract but Italian champions AC Milan are closely monitoring the situation — as are French sides Nice and Monaco.
Mendy was voted Fifa’s best goalkeeper of 2021, having helped Chelsea win the Champions League in 2020.
He also played a key role in the Blues lifting the Club World Cup — the last big trophy to elude them.
Mendy won the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal in 2021 and played for his homeland in Qatar, going out to England in the first knockout round.
Now he is back at Chelsea’s Surrey HQ and hopes to play when they return to Premier League action at home to Bournemouth on December 27.
Meanwhile, Chelsea have confirmed Christopher Vivell’s arrival as their new technical director.
Vivell, 36, previously worked at RB Leipzig in his native Germany, where he was responsible for recruitment and scouting all age groups.
