Mason Mount looks increasingly like to leave Chelsea this summer - but the midfielder wanted to stay at his boyhood club.
The 24-year-old England international has just one year remaining on his current contract and has been unable to come to an agreement over fresh terms with the Stamford Bridge hierarchy, who are now set to cash in on their homegrown star in order to raise funds.
Mount has attracted interest from several of the Blues' Premier League rivals, including Arsenal and Liverpool, and Manchester United are now in pole position to sign the maestro, who has 'agreed personal terms' with the club ahead of a potential switch.
A fresh report from The Evening Standard has revealed that United are now preparing to formally approach Chelsea over a deal for Mount. However, the report also outlines that Mount does not wish to leave the Blues but has not managed to secure a deal that would give him parity with several other significant members of the squad such as Reece James, who penned a fresh £250,000-a-week deal last year.
Chelsea need to sell players this summer after spending in excess of £600million on transfers since the arrival of Todd Boehly, who purchased the club with Clearlake Capital last year.
As Mount is a product of the Blues academy, any fee received for Mount would be counted in the club's account as pure profit, which would be beneficial for Chelsea as they bid to stay within the parameters of the Financial Fair Play rules.
Mount's impending will come as a blow to Mauricio Pochettino, who was appointed as the Blues' new head coach earlier this week. The Argentine was keen to keep Mount at the club, however, a resolution is now thought to be unlikely.
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Chelsea caretaker manager Frank Lampard, who will now leave the club, was reluctant to delve into speculation linking Mount with a move elsewhere during the final weeks of the campaign.
When he was asked about the midfielder's contract situation, Lampard said last month: "I don’t know the answer to that, it’s a conversation between Mason and the club, so I don’t know. It’s not final at this point and we’ll have to see because those conversations are ongoing.
"It’s a shame for me personally because I think everyone knows how I feel about working with Mason and I like to think he feels the same about me, and we could have done with him in the games we’ve played already this season.
"But the bigger picture is something that’s going to become clearer in the next weeks and months, and that will be the club and Mason together having conversations."
