Ambitious Edouard Mendy insists he has not achieved his "ultimate objective" simply by signing for Chelsea - but is remaining tight-lipped about his future goals.
Mendy joined the Blues from French club Rennes towards the end of the summer transfer window to provide competition for goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga and has now been confirmed as Frank Lampard's No1 goalkeeper.
The Senegal international made his Chelsea debut in the Carabao Cup clash with Tottenham, before keeping back-to-back clean sheets - against Crystal Palace in the Premier League, and Sevilla in the Champions League.
He returned to action against the latter in midweek, having missed the 3-3 draw with Southampton due to a thigh injury sustained while on international duty.
According to Mendy, Chelsea's interest in him dates back to last year.
"When I heard about Chelsea’s interest, it was actually when I was at Reims, before I joined Rennes," he told talkSPORT. “It was of course quite unbelievable to hear that, particularly in my case as three years before I’d been without a club (after being released by Cherbourg).
"When you hear about something like that, you have to leave it to one side because it can be distracting. But it worked out for the best.
"I played my season in France and it went very well and when the offer was formally made I did all that I could to join Chelsea because they’re a club I’ve loved for years.
"It’s a real source of pride for me. I wouldn’t say this is the end and ultimate objective but it’s true it’s a real step in the right direction for me as a player."
When pressed on what his ultimate objectives were, Mendy added: "I’m someone with a lot of ambitions and a lot of goals but I prefer to keep them to myself.
"They’re things that motivate me to do my best every single day.
"I’m someone who likes to take things step by step, I don’t like to jump ahead of myself, I like to get to the next level before I carry on forward.
"I work every day to do the best for my team so I have a lot of ambitions as anyone would when they join a team as big as Chelsea."
