“Being African made me miss out on Ballon d’Or”

Edouard Mendy doesn’t understand why he did not make the top 30 in last year’s Ballon d’Or, as he believes it was based on his origin.

The Senegal keeper was one of the standout players in the world after he helped Chelsea win the Champions League, and also made an impressive outing in the Premier League in the 2020-21 campaign, with only City keeping more clean sheets than the west Londoners.

Since joining the London side in September 2020, he has kept 25 clean sheets in his 52 league appearances.

For his heroics, the Mendy was named the Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper but he did not rank within the top 30 players at the Ballon d’Or.

Speaking to French football programme Téléfoot, Mendy said he ‘didn’t understand’ the snub.

‘The best response was to stay the course on the pitch to show that my name deserved to be in the top 30.

‘I think being African did me a disservice because I didn’t play in any international competitions last year.’