Mason Mount prepares Chelsea fans’ farewell as Manchester United prepare for summer transfer
Ason Mount prepares to say goodbye to Chelsea supporters at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, with the midfielder increasingly likely to leave his boyhood club this summer.
Incoming head coach Mauricio Pochettino has indicated he wants to keep Mount but has yet to exert influence over his future amid a contract stalemate with Chelsea.
Mount has been left in limbo, having had no direct contact with Pochettino despite continuing dialogue with the club over the past few weeks.
Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly last met the 24-year-old in April but there is no follow-up contract offer yet, suggesting he will leave at the end of the season.
Mount has one year left on his contract and Manchester United are ready to make a bid for him. Their interest is prompted by the admiration of manager Erik ten Hag, who tried to sign Mount on loan for Ajax after his spell with Vitesse in 2018.
Exit imminent: Mason Mount increasingly likely to leave Chelsea at the end of the season
/ Chelsea F.C. via Getty ImagesLiverpool and Arsenal are also interested in Mount. If he isn’t suitable for a new contact this summer, Chelsea are ready to sell him to ensure they receive a transfer fee and don’t risk losing him for free next summer. They could demand upwards of £60million for him.
Chelsea’s latest offer to Mount was a one-year extension with a significant pay rise, but that would still have left the England international with an uncertain future.
Mount is absent from Thursday’s trip to Old Trafford and is struggling to be fit for the final game of the season against Newcastle on Sunday after surgery on a persistent injury to his pubic bone.
But he will still be at Stamford Bridge for the Newcastle game, when the players take a traditional end-of-season post-game appreciation tour.
As talks between Chelsea and Pochettino drag on, Mount is one of many players who have been left in limbo. N’Golo Kante was close to signing a new two-year deal but his future looks uncertain again, with his contract expiring on June 30.
Like Mount, Mateo Kovacic is expected to be out of contract at the end of next season. Talks have yet to start with the Croatian midfielder and he expects to be sold alongside Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Christian Pulisic, who will also see their deals expire next year.
Manchester City are keen on Kovacic, while AC Milan are in talks to sign Loftus-Cheek. Conor Gallagher has received comments that Pochettino is keen to keep him, but he only has two years left on his contract.
Chelsea are ready to recall Levi Colwill from his loan spell at Brighton but will soon have to start contract talks with the centre-back. He has two years left on his contract, although a one-year extension is automatically triggered if he plays 15 Premier League games for the Blues.
Edouard Mendy expects to be sold but has yet to be told by the club, although Chelsea are targeting a new goalkeeper. The Blues also want to sign a striker and potentially a midfielder depending on player sales this summer. The future of Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech is also uncertain. Both players still have two years left on their contracts.
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