Chelsea legend Petr Cech donned his training gear to help put new signing Edouard Mendy through his paces during his first training session with the club.
The 28-year-old signed from Rennes earlier this week following protracted negotiations and will immediately put pressure on under-fire Kepa Arrizabalaga for the No.1 spot.
Mendy will not make his debut against West Brom on Saturday with Frank Lampard unwilling to thrust his latest recruit into action so soon after arriving in west London.
But Mendy is already benefiting from the wisdom and experience of Cech, the club’s technical director, who also played for Rennes before cementing his reputation as one of the finest goalkeepers of his generation during his Stamford Bridge career.
The Senegal international has endured something of a nomadic career before landing his dream move and Lampard believes Cech’s input will prove invaluable to the £28million signing.
‘With Petr, he has so much give on that side of things. Of course his day job here now is technical advisor and he is a great help on that front, and that has been brilliant for me to have that since being back at the club,’ said Lampard.
‘Having Petr train with the goalkeepers and bring his experience is a great thing, because he has great quality. I think he retired pretty young so he is training and keeping fit, which is healthy for him and for the goalkeepers in the squad. And that is as far as it goes.
‘It is something that is really positive for the goalkeepers and Petr enjoys doing it. So why not give back and give that experience to the goalkeepers?
‘There is no written rule over when he is out there. He is out there pretty often at the moment. I am very comfortable with that. Petr came to me and talked about it before he started training, at first it was because we were suffering with the squad and there were certain numbers, and now Petr is training very regularly with the group.
‘That can change at any time. It is not something I have a problem with anyway, our communication has always been good. It is something I like.
‘We are a tight-knit family here at Chelsea. That was one of my things when I came back to the club. It is not like I am going to get my boots back on and take part every day, but what we are trying to do is the group is together.
‘Petr has his job but he is also at times helping with the goalkeepers. Why would you not tap into having the best goalkeeper in the world to pass on that knowledge?’
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MORE: Frank Lampard explains why Edouard Mendy will not make Chelsea debut against West Brom
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