Chelsea boss Graham Potter has praised Mason Mount for the way he has conducted himself through a tough period in his career at Stamford Bridge. The midfielder has been an ever-present player since breaking into the first-team, but a mixture of injuries and form have seen him drop out of the side.
With Mount available for selection again this weekend when the Blues face Aston Villa, Potter has been full of praise for the 24-year-old. He said in his pre-match press conference: "I think it's been tough for him because he's had some niggling injury and speculation off the pitch.
"He's a professional and a top professional and he's a fantastic lad. How he's acted with me, with the team, how he's acted around us has been absolutely top. I think that's credit to him because sometimes in your career things are difficult, not quite optimal how you'd like them to be and you have to act well and conduct yourself in a good way and that's exactly what he's done."
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All parties will be hopeful that Mount can return to that top form again this weekend, though the speculation around his future continues in the background. The Cobham academy graduate has just over 12-months remaining on his contract with the club, with reports claiming that he could be shown the exit door to avoid losing him on a free if a new deal isn't agreed.
Plenty of clubs have been linked with a switch, from the likes of Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Liverpool. A source has told football.london that Liverpool are seriously interested in the England international and are preparing to make a move for the midfielder in the summer should the situation remain unsolved.
Reds' manager Jurgen Klopp revealed there have been talks over transfer targets this summer, but hasn't named exactly which ones are on the shortlist.
Speaking in his pre-Manchester City press conference, he said: "That’s actually the only thing that we do during the international break [plan for next season]. Apart from having a few days off, we don’t plan training sessions as I don’t know who is coming back or when so we do that.”
When asked if there had been any plans on signings, he added: "It was good, on the player side I’m positive, I would say. But it’s talks, not decisions. But we are busy, as you can imagine.”
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