At Bayern he is traded, at Liverpool they are working on his commitment. And it’s no wonder Mason Mount is so coveted by Chelsea FC.
Mason Mount was on the bench for 90 minutes in Tuesday’s tie between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge. This gave conspiracy theorists and body language experts a free evening. Because they would certainly have dissected every action of the 24-year-old and interpreted it in one direction or the other. After all, Mount has been traded as a newcomer to the Reds for weeks.
Mount’s contract at Chelsea expires in the summer of 2024 and the odds that he won’t renew are increasing by the week. There is therefore a feeling in both camps that a split at the end of this season is both likely and necessary.
According to information from SPOX and GOAL Liverpool are keen to take advantage of this situation. The England international has long been admired on the Mersey. Liverpool even came close to signing Mount as an Under-16 player. Michael Beale, now Rangers team manager and former Chelsea youth manager, was working with Liverpool youth at the time and was keen to bring him on.
But Beale was unsuccessful. Now Mount has grown in age, experience and skills and would be an ideal piece of the puzzle in Jürgen Klopp’s major renovation for the new season.
Why Liverpool are so interested in Mason Mount
At 24, Mount has firmly established himself as one of the Premier League’s best and most versatile midfielders in recent seasons.
He is young, strong and a good pressing player. He scores goals and is a passable provider. He has been Chelsea’s player of the year for the last two seasons. Eden Hazard (Real Madrid) was the last to do that with the Londoners.
Perhaps just as important, at least from a Liverpool perspective, is that he’s on the pitch regularly. In his six seasons as a pro, Mount has played in 39, 44, 53, 54 and 53 games. He made 32 appearances this season before suffering a groin injury that kept him out around the international break.
Given the injury issues Liverpool have with the likes of Naby Keïta, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Thiago Alcántara and Curtis Jones, that’s an important factor, as is Mount’s ability to play both in attack and central midfield when needed .
He has played as a left winger and a tenth for both Chelsea and England national team. This flexibility makes it interesting for many clubs. Also for the Reds, who are actually looking for an athletic eight for their 4-3-3.
Mason Mount: The form is not right at the moment
The downside, of course, is that Mount’s form has been mixed this season. But which Chelsea player can’t say the same about?
The fact that the Blues are a disappointing 11th place in the Premier League and are already looking for their third manager this season following Graham Potter’s sacking shows that there are a number of Chelsea players who are not covering themselves in glory these days.
Mount hit double-digit goals (11) and assists (10) in the Premier League in 2021/22. He’s far from that with a meager three goals and two assists this season. At times, it seems, he lacks determination and self-confidence.
This goes hand in hand with some fierce criticism from some Chelsea fans, who almost see the dent in their homegrown form as a symbol of the club’s decline.
Mount has been at Chelsea since he was six and was a key player in winning the Champions League in 2021. Despite this, he never managed to win the hearts of Blues fans.
Perhaps this is one of those cases where you only realize what you had when it (or he) is gone.
A coach’s dream
So while he has a hard time with some fans, Mount is an absolute favorite of his coaches. Potter loved him, Thomas Tuchel loved him and Frank Lampard anyway. England manager Gareth Southgate has an incredible pool of players to draw from in attack. As a rule, however, he sets up Mount. This has been the case in 36 international matches so far and also in four of the Three Lions’ five games at the World Cup in Qatar.
Klopp is also a fan of Mount’s style of play. The German is impressed by his speed, cleverness and tactical flexibility as well as his technical skills. To excel at Klopp you need understanding of the game, working hard off the ball and having the confidence and ability to pull off a deadly through ball. At its best, Mount meets all of these requirements!
For all their ties to Chelsea, it looks like a change of scenery would be just the thing to find the old form again.
Klopp could be the perfect solution. The former BVB coach has already announced that there will be a restructuring in his squad in the summer and has promised that money will “definitely” be spent on new players. A revamped Reds midfield with Mount and Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham has been the dream of Liverpool fans ever since.
Mason Mount: Is FC Bayern also involved?
According to information from SPOX and GOAL, there were already “productive talks” between Mount and the Reds about a transfer in the summer. Liverpool are perfectly capable of meeting the midfielder’s salary demands.
Nevertheless, the competition is not to be despised. Manchester United has been traded as a possible new club for weeks. And then there is FC Bayern. Since Thomas Tuchel took over the scepter there a few days ago, Mount should also be a candidate on Säbener Straße. The English media reported. Loud Times should there be interest from Munich and the Guardians wrote that Mount himself is flirting with a move to FCB. United and Bayern are two big house numbers that Liverpool would have to deal with in poker.
And of course, Chelsea still have an important say. The first thing to do there is to clarify the trainer question. Who knows, maybe a new coach, say Julian Nagelsmann or Luis Enrique, wants to build his offensive around Mount. Then there would certainly be new impetus in the contract negotiations and staying in London could be a real option again.
Currently, the club bosses, who urgently need to earn money after their extensive shopping tour, are said to want to sell Mount for a large sum in the summer. We are talking about a fairly ambitious asking price of the equivalent of 70 million euros. However, an amount of 50 million euros seems much more realistic.
Either way, Mount is one of the most exciting personalities on the transfer market in the coming weeks.
