French journalist Mitchel Paul says former Super Eagles goalkeeper and captain Vincent Enyeama has a bigger and better reputation in France than the present first choice goalkepper of Chelsea Édouard Mendy.
Both goalkeepers made their mark in the Ligue 1 but while Mendy moved on from Rennes to the role of first choice goalkepper of Chelsea, Enyeama remained at Lille which eventually ended his career after a fall out with then head coach Marcelo Bielsa.
Mendy has seen his stock go up recently with solid performances for Chelsea and it has led to many questioning why he wasn’t nominated for the prestigious Ballon d’Or award as he was pivotal in Chelsea lifting the UEFA Champions League.
However Mitchel insist as much as he deserve all the praises he is getting at the moment, he didn’t show that much in France like Enyeama did during his days at Lille where he was minutes away from setting a new clean sheet record.
” In 2013/2014 season, Enyeama took goalkeeping to a different level in France. He kept 11 consecutive clean sheets, when he finally conceded it was a deflected strike. He was 114 minutes away from equaling the record of Gaetan Hurtard which was set in 1993. Enyeama went 1,062 minutes. I doubt if it will ever happen again”, he told OwnGoalNigeria.com.
” It’s unfortunate he didn’t get to do it on a bigger scale like Mendy at the moment but in French football. Enyeama is bigger and much more respected than Mendy. You can ask anybody who has been following the Ligue 1, Mendy isn’t there yet. Enyeama was nominated for player of the season. That’s huge in France “, he concluded.