Mason Mount has admitted that Chelsea’s players have been kept in the dark about the crisis at Stamford Bridge following Roman Abramovich's decision to sell the club.
Mount revealed that football has given Thomas Tuchel and his players some welcome relief from the political machinations that have plunged the world and European champions into limbo after Abramovich was sanctioned by the Government following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Abramovich announced his intention to put Chelsea on the market before Downing Street froze his UK assets - and the bidding has been allowed to continue.
But Mount has been keeping abreast of developments in the media from the heart of the England camp during the week - and he insists his team-mates are doing the same. He said: “I’ve been at the club since I was six years old and something like this has not happened before, so it can be a concern.
“At the beginning, and even now, we don’t really know where it’s going and what’s happening the next day. So it’s difficult. But we focus on our football and what we can do is try and win as many games as we can.
Obviously I’m away with England, so that stuff is kind of parked and I’m focusing on England duty and what I can do while I’m away. And then, when I go back to Chelsea next week, I’m sure we will be informed about what’s going on because I haven’t heard anything recently.”
Mount is still only 23 - despite playing more than 200 games at senior level, winning some of the game’s biggest honours and helping England reach the final of last summer’s Euros. But he spoke with a maturity beyond his years when asked about the situation at Chelsea and how modern players have been plunged into the political arena in recent times.
England captain Harry Kane has announced that Gareth Southgate and his players have spoken about human rights concerns in the build-up to the winter World Cup in Qatar. And Mount believes footballers should be prepared to offer their views on world events beyond the touchline.
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He said: “I definitely think in this modern day, even if you are a young footballer, to be able to speak about things that are going on in the world is part of what we do. I mean, you look at the squad and how young we are and what we’ve done over the last couple of years to show how we feel about things that have happened away from football.
“We’re together in it and every decision we make, we speak about. We understand the situation that is going on and we try to use our platform to make a change - and that’s something we’ll continue to do and something we’re very proud of as a group. We want to help the world to make a change and sometimes that’s what we have to focus on.”
Tuchel has protected his Chelsea players with the dignified way he has handled questions about the war in Ukraine and the sanctions on Abramovich that have paralysed the London club. The Blues have stretched their unbeaten run to 14 games in all competitions.
And Mount added: “It can sometimes be hard to focus on football when a lot of things is going on around you. But I feel like it has made it a bit easier, that there are so many games to play that we have to focus ourselves on what’s happening on the pitch. Hopefully that can continue. You don’t know what’s going on from day to day, so to focus on football is all we can do.”
