How Mason Mount’s Chelsea dream turned sour ahead of his £60m Man United move

Using just two words and two emojis, Trevoh Chalobah gave a glimpse into one of the elements linked to Mason Mount’s impending move to Manchester United.

“My boy,” he posted on Twitter, along with the tearful and heartbroken emojis, not long after Chelsea were confirmed to have agreed a £60 million deal to sell midfielder Mount to United.

Defender Chalobah, who came through the ranks with Mount, is far from the only one of a Chelsea squad saddened that it has come to this, the relationship between their academy poster boy and the club is deteriorating to the point that he now heads to a rival .

The feelings are even stronger among some of those, inside and outside Chelsea, who have watched Mount and helped to get him started.

He may feel the same way in his private life, but in his case all the emotions mingle with the excitement of the new challenge and fresh start ahead at Old Trafford, where he looks all set to become a central figure in the plans by Erik Ten Hag.

Mount joined Chelsea at the age of six and was so driven that even at that young age his goal of making it to the club’s first team was crystal clear.

Watching close friends like Declan Rice let loose as he continued to work towards his goal only increased his determination to push himself to achieve his dream.

When his family became concerned about the lack of youth players to make it to Chelsea, Mount remained undaunted and insisted he wasn’t going anywhere.

He admits he was in his own league when he made the Chelsea first team and was a future captain in the eyes of club legend and big fan Frank Lampard, who gave Mount the armband in what turned out to be the last game of his first attack period.

That season ended with Chelsea winning the Champions League and Mount’s voice cracked with emotion as he spoke afterwards about fulfilling his dreams of winning big trophies for his boyhood club and his desire to continue to do so.

Chelsea is my blood. I love this club, I love these fans,” he said.

But here we are, just over a year after Mount collected his second successive Chelsea Player of the Year award, he is now on his way to United, with a medical expected early next week.

From Chelsea’s perspective, Mount’s departure is a sad ending and one that should raise questions everywhere about how it could have happened, how it could have broken off relations with someone who was Chelsea at heart in this way.

At one point tying Mount to a long-term contract was described as the easiest deal to do, as his affinity for the club and, at least in the beginning, his plan was to remain something Chelsea claimed was their choice used to be. also going.

But now some at Stamford Bridge also can’t shake the feeling that money was ultimately the motivating factor after three offers – two pre-World Cup, a one-year extension at the start of this year to buy time and the highest more in excess of £200,000 a week – were turned down, increasingly accompanied by a message that Mount no longer wanted to stay or sign a new deal.

For his part, it was more complicated than that, although doubts arose in the process about what the efforts to fix his future said about how much they really valued him and how integral he was really regarded, especially with the club going through a massive transition after he had been kidnapped. last summer.

That was also related to another reason why people feel things have unraveled, the situation evolves gradually rather than suddenly.

Nearby sources highlighted the impact timing and what happened over time in Mount leaving with his contract expiring and both him and the club having a decision to make.

That was all the more the case with the new owners who wanted to end the days when the Chelsea stars were out of contracts.

Mount already started their reign in the area they didn’t like, heading into the final two years of his contract.

He signed his previous deal, a five-year deal, in July 2019 before the Covid pandemic broke out, forcing clubs to rein in spending.

The following season ended with that Champions League triumph and a first player of the year award for Mount.

Chelsea intended to reward Mount with a new deal worth around £200,000 to reflect his development and elevated status and thought they were close to an agreement until a late move on terms resulted in the matter being shelved laid, without haste because of the time he had at that time still left his deal.

The following season, however, ended with a sanction from Chelsea and an eventual change of ownership.

And what started out as a situation primarily handled by Marina Granovskaia has more recently been a situation for new co-sports directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, with co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali serving as key points of contact for a period.

The mid-season World Cup brought another hiatus and each of these were cited as contributing factors to the situation drifting.

Mount’s contract story, meanwhile, has played out as he went through a slump, even if form is temporary, and Chelsea are trying to wrestle control of their wage costs. Again, not ideal timing.

Although it was for the vultures who started circling and finally managed to turn Mount’s head and tempt him to think about the previously unthinkable – the idea of ​​leaving Chelsea.

His admirers saw an unexpected opportunity to bring in an established England international, who was already blessed with plenty of playing and trophy-winning experience, valued throughout the game and with years ahead of him.

So long it seemed like those years would only be with Chelsea.

But not anymore, after a split between Mount and his beloved Chelsea that few could have predicted not so long ago.