Real Madrid have confirmed the capture of Rennes midfielder Eduardo Camavinga on a six-year deal worth €40 million (£34m/$47m) including add-ons.
The France international makes the swap from Roazhon Park to the Santiago Bernabeu in a move that sees him contracted to Los Blancos through to 2027.
His move comes in the wake of Madrid’s failed attempts to purchase Kylian Mbappe from Rennes’ Ligue 1 rivals Paris Saint-Germain, with the forward set to remain at Parc des Princes this year.
Olivier Giroud says he will continue to deliver when called upon by Chelsea manager Frank Lampard.
The Frenchman has hardly played this season due to the performances of Tammy Abraham and Timo Werner.
But the veteran striker came off the bench to score a late winner against Rennes on Tuesday, booking Chelsea’s place in the Champions League knockout rounds.
“We must continue this good run, we won tonight, even if it was with difficulty,” Giroud told RMC Sport.
“Obviously for an attacker when the coach brings you on you have to bring something, now I am staying concentrated on what I have to do.
“When he calls on me, I do the job, nothing more.”
Chelsea have booked their place in the Champions League knockout stages thanks to Olivier Giroud’s injury-time winner against Rennes.
Callum Hudson-Odoi got Chelsea off with a great start by scoring the opener at 22 minutes.
The England U21 winger was put through by a sublime through pass from compatriot Mason Mount, finishing with a crisp low shot past Alfred Gomis.
It looked as though Rennes had stolen a point when Serhou Guirassy headed home from a corner with five minutes remaining.
But it was substitute Giroud, having played only 127 minutes this season, who headed the winner after Timo Werner’s effort was blocked.
Sevilla’s win over Krasnodar still leaves Chelsea on top of Group E with 10 points and qualified for the last-16.
Speaking after the game, manager Frank Lampard said; “I’m very happy to qualify with two games to spare. It was a really tough match for us tonight.
“Rennes are a very good team. We played well for big spells of the game. It was a tough, had-fought win.”
Chelsea football chief Petr Cech has revealed how they came to the decision to sign Edouard Mendy from Rennes this summer.
Cech, registered as a player with Chelsea this season, joined the Blues from Rennes himself in 2004, and disclosed that he played a part in the signing of Mendy.
Cech said: “I gave my input [on Mendy’s signing], because we wanted to add to our goalkeeping group a slightly different type of keeper.
“We have Kepa and Willy Caballero, who every time we needed him was ready to step in and we decided with Kepa going through a difficult moment where things were not happening for him on the pitch, we decided to add to our goalkeeping group and we agreed to bring in Edouard. So far, he’s been doing great.
“In my first eight games [at Chelsea], we had seven clean sheets. If he [Mendy] gets that and makes it better, I will be happy, because the team will do well and we will be winning, and this is ultimately what we want.’
Cech revealed that Christophe Lollichon, the head of Chelsea’s goalkeeping department, advised him to watch Mendy.
“I have to give credit to Christophe Lollichon who spoke to me about him three-and-a-half years ago when Edouard started playing for Reims. The one thing which is great about his story is obviously his year where, because of the fault of his agent, he was without a club.
“While I was playing at Arsenal, he said, ‘Watch this goalkeeper, he has a very interesting story’. So I started following him.
“Obviously you watch all the other goalkeepers as well. I have watched 30, 40 different goalkeepers over the past year and a half, but I kept following Edouard and you see his evolution and progression every year, it got me the idea when we talked about what we want from a goalkeeper, what we would like to add to our goalkeeping group, his name came to my mind.
“The manager has a big input. The club and the scouting has his input and we all agreed he’s the goalkeeper we should get over.”
Frank Lampard believes there is “a lot more to come” from Edouard Mendy owing to the Senegal international’s bright start to life at Chelsea.
The 28-year-old joined the Stamford Bridge giants from Rennes as back-up for error-prone Kepa Arrizabalaga for a fee worth £22 million.
With five clean sheets garnered in six appearances so far, Mendy has become the first Blue to record shutouts in his opening three Premier League matches since Petr Cech.
As the goalkeeper prepares to face his former team in the Champions League on Wednesday, the Blues boss is in awe of the African’s performances so far, while suggesting his potentials are yet to be unlocked.
“I am sure he will improve as it is really early days for him at the club he is settling in still to a degree,” he told media per Chelsea website.
“I am very confident in him and he has shown great qualities so far and I think there is a lot more to come, with his attitude which is key.
“I have seen how he wants to work, how he wants to be and the humility in him – I think he can go much further in many departments.
“What I have seen in a short period of time with Edouard is a player that has a massive work ethic to train and push himself every day.
“It seems his personality is pretty laid back with a tough edge when it comes to work.”
“He has shown his qualities that we brought him into the club for,” he continued.
“All the feedback was he had a great personality, a strong personality in the dressing room, and everything I heard, all those positives, came true. It seems his personality is pretty laid-back with a tough edge when it comes to work.
“He is very low maintenance, he works hard, he wants to work more, and he is eager to engage with his team-mates and myself.
“He has a smile on his face so it’s a real positive when you have a player that comes in and hits the ground running on the pitch and in the dressing room.”
After the showdown versus Rennes, big games are coming thick and fast, and he is expected to get plenty of opportunities to impress.
New Chelsea signing Edouard Mendy admits he has a responsibility to succeed as the club’s first ever African goalkeeper.
Senegal international Mendy joined Chelsea last week from Rennes.
He declared: “The brightest African talents have played for this club: Drogba, Essien, Eto’o, Mikel.
“When you see this, you want to follow in their footsteps. As for the goalkeepers, I am the first, and I am very proud of this, this is a great responsibility.”
As for his match fitness, Mendy added: “Although I haven’t played for a while, I trained with Rennes as usual. We recently played a match behind closed doors and I took part. I feel great.”
Rennes are delighted with the business achieved over Edouard Mendy’s move to Chelsea.
RMC says the deal was settled last night, with the goalkeeper due to be confirmed a Chelsea player today.
Mendy will sign a five-year contract and join Chelsea for an initial €24m fee plus a further €6m in bonuses.
Rennes management are pleased, having signed Mendy three years ago from Reims for €4m.
The Senegal international is France born and raised so doesn’t require a UK work permit.
Olympique Marseille broke into the Ligue 1 top four after goals from Boubacar Kamara and Kevin Strootman gave them a 2-0 home win over struggling Strasbourg on Sunday.
In the day’s early fixtures, Monaco eased their relegation woes with a last-gasp 3-2 defeat of Rennes while Girondins Bordeaux suffered a 1-0 setback against visiting St Etienne.
Kamara netted a third minute opener for 1993 European Cup champions Marseille, blasting a deflected shot past goalkeeper Matz Sels.
This came after Strasbourg failed to clear a low free-kick driven into the area from the left.
The home side then missed several chances as Croatian defender Duje Caleta-Car and Serbia winger Nemanja Radonjic hit the woodwork while Argentine Dario Benedetto scuffed a close-range shot wide.
Dutch midfielder Strootman sealed the win with a stoppage-time penalty kick after Benedetto was brought down by a visiting defender.
The result left Marseille fourth on 16 points from 10 games while Strasbourg stayed bottom on nine points.
Wissam Ben Yedder scored a 90th minute winner for Monaco to cap a memorable evening.
That was after he had given his side an early lead in a rollercoaster, as the visitors hit back through Faitout Maouassa and Adrien Hunou.
Algeria striker Islam Slimani, on loan at Monaco from Leicester City, levelled in the 56th minute.
Ben Yedder then delighted the home fans as the principality side moved up to 14th place, two points clear of the bottom three.
A 90th minute penalty kick from Denis Bouanga gave St Etienne a surprise win at sixth-placed Bordeaux and allowed the visitors to move up to 10th place.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang inspired an Arsenal comeback as they overturned a two-goal deficit from the first leg and reached the Europa League quarter-finals with a 4-3 aggregate win over Rennes, BBC reports.
The striker put Arsenal ahead within four minutes, firing in Aaron Ramsey’s cut-back, before setting up Ainsley Maitland-Niles before half-time at Emirates Stadium.
He then poked in Sead Kolasinac’s low cross after the break to make it 3-0.
Arsenal will be in the draw for the quarter-finals on Friday at 12:00 GMT.
They join fellow English side Chelsea in the last eight after they thrashed Dynamo Kiev 8-0 on aggregate.
It is the second successive season Arsenal have made it through to the last eight – they were knocked out in the semi-finals last year following a 2-1 aggregate defeat by Atletico Madrid.