Speaking to the Daily Mail, Edouard Mendy said: "The lowest point I got to, was that summer [2014]. Cherbourg had released me and I had been trying constantly to contact my agent, leaving him voicemails and sending him texts, and he just wasn't replying.
"When he did get in touch, it was just a text message saying, 'Sorry, it is the last day of the window and I am not going to be able to find a club for you, so you won't be able to sign a contract with anyone, so I suggest you look for work and continue to train by yourself'.
"That period was tough because I was torn between those two decisions. One was something I might have to do and the other was what I wanted to do. I had a good friend who had a menswear shop. He was convinced I would do a good job for him. They offered me the chance to run the shop for them.
"Eight days after my friend first floated that idea about managing the shop, I got a call from Marseille offering me the chance of going there to be one of the back-up keepers at the club. That was when things started to change. I was lucky at the time with the situation in my home life.
"When I look back on my career path, from the moment I signed my first professional contract or when I was unemployed, if anyone would have said to me that a few years down the line, I was going to be playing in a Champions League final, I wouldn't have believed them. I wouldn't have listened to them."
"I feel lucky now to be at a really positive point in my career and playing for a club where I have the opportunity to win trophies but what has happened is about more than luck. I have worked really, really hard throughout that period to have achieved what I have achieved so far to make that career jump."
After spending one season with Marseille's B team, Mendy joined Reims in 2016 and helped the club secure a promotion to Ligue 1 in his 3 seasons at Grand Est.
