Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy looks set to miss the opening game of the Africa Cup of Nations having tested positive for Covid-19.
The stopper had linked up with his Senegal teammates ahead of the tournament, which kicks off in Cameroon today.
Mendy’s first assignment in the competition was set to come against Zimbabwe on Monday afternoon but now looks set to be on the sidelines alongside a number of his teammates.
According to reports, Kalidou Koulibaly and Famara Diedhiou have also returned positive tests, with the squad undergoing mandatory testing ahead of their first excursions in the competition.
The trio will now miss the game unless it is revealed that their tests returned false positives.
Should that not be the case, Mendy will be the latest player in the Chelsea squad to have caught the virus following positive tests for Thiago Silva and N’Golo Kante.
Of course, the goalkeeper was set to be away from Stamford Bridge for the next few weeks with his commitments at the tournament.
He had previously been Thomas Tuchel’s number one before his departure - a decision that has been called into question following a couple of mistakes from the former Rennes man.
The German admitted that Mendy had seen his confidence drop but showed no signs of dropping the stopper.
Talking after Chelsea’s 3-2 defeat to West Ham United at the start of December, Tuchel said: "[Mendy] is going through a rough period, I don't know why exactly but he seems to have lost a bit of confidence.”
So far this season, Mendy had made 26 appearances in all competitions for the Blues, keeping 12 clean sheets.
In his absence, Kepa Arrizabalaga is set to be the Blues’ pick between the sticks, albeit Marcus Bettinelli having been handed an opportunity in Chelsea’s 5-1 FA Cup victory against non-league Chesterfield.
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