Mount demand rubbished as ‘Chelsea stance’ opens ‘significant’ Liverpool talks over £70m transfer

Mason Mount has not been demanding £300,000 per week from Chelsea according to a report which claims the club’s stance on his sale has soured the relationship.

Chelsea have been negotiating a new contract with Mount for much of the season, with reports claiming the academy graduate’s wage demands were considered unreasonable by the club.

But a report in The Athletic claims ‘suggestions Mount has been demanding £300,000 a week are wide of the mark’.

The stalemate in talks has occurred due to ‘confusion over how long a contract would have to be to satisfy each party’ with Mount not wanting to lock himself into a deal that would take him into his 30s.

It’s claimed Chelsea offered Mount a much shorter contract after the World Cup, but ‘on the proviso of Mount accepted a smaller salary’.

Todd Boehly and the new ownership favour highly-incentivised contracts, with playing time, starts and honours won all tied in, whereas wages were guaranteed under the previous regime.

Mount’s prominence in sponsorship deals and marketing means the subject of image rights will also have been addressed in talks, and further complicates the situation.

It’s claimed ‘Mount’s priority from the get-go has always been to remain at Stamford Bridge’ but his commitment to the club is now ‘much more up for debate’.

The report states: ‘His camp have become aware of the club’s stance that they intend to sell if he does not agree a new contract, which has hardly improved the relationship.’

There’s now ‘a belief within the game that he can be persuaded to leave’.

A decision will not be made until the end of the season, when a final round of talks will take place, with Chelsea keen to implement a policy which will see contract negtotiations with current players taking place in summer windows rather than during the season.

Chelsea are said to want £70m for Mount, and though Bayern Munich, Juventus, Arsenal and Manchester United are all thought to be interested, it’s Liverpool that have made most progress.

The Athletic state: ‘Significant conversations have taken place over a prospective move, with Liverpool already giving proper consideration to what kind of contract they could offer to persuade the player to join them’.

MAILBOX: Man Utd’s Xhaka, and why Thierry Henry remains the Premier League GOAT…