Manchester United have returned with a bid worth up to £55million for ChelseaYou can also find out more about the following: England midfielder Mason Mount.
The AthleticReport on Wednesday that United had seen an improved second offer worth up to £50m — a £45m initial fee plus £5m in add-ons — rejected.
Chelsea had countered to request £60m plus £7m in add-ons but United have come back once again looking for a compromise for one of their top targets of the summer window.
The latest bid would be for a deal of £50m initially with £5m more in variables.
Mount has a year left to run on his deal at Stamford Bridge but talks over extending his stay have failed to yield a positive conclusion and Chelsea are keen to comply with the player’s wishes over a potential exit.
The Athletic Reported in June that Chelsea had rejected a £40million offer from the Old Trafford clubMount is valued far more by them and they dismiss the idea outright.
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Mount, a Chelsea academy product, has played 195 times for the club and scored 33 goals since making his debut in 2017.
Two seasons were spent on loan with Vitesse Arnhem. Derby County between 2017 and 2019 before establishing himself as a first-team regular in Frank Lampard’s first spell at Chelsea.
He has also made 36 appearances for his country and was a member of Gareth Southgate’s squads at Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup.
Mount struggled with a pelvic injury towards the back end of the 2022-23 season and missed Chelsea’s final-day draw against Newcastle United.
Go deeper
Mason Mount’s move to Manchester United only makes sense if he is a significant improvement.
Why could he possibly leave Chelsea?
Liam Twomey’s Chelsea correspondent Liam Twomey provides analysis
This is a complex question. Mount has been significantly underpaid for the best part of three years; he remains one of the lowest-paid members of Chelsea’s first-team squad, earning less than £100,000 per week ($124,000), on the five-year deal he signed at the beginning of the 2019-20 season. Since then, he has played a major role in the Champions League triumph of 2021, established himself as an England regular and been voted Chelsea’s player of the year twice.
Todd Boehly, Behdad Eghbali and Mount have not been able to agree on a new contract since the takeover. The constant turmoil of the season hasn’t helped either as Mount considers his future.
Could he be a good fit at Man United?
Carl Anka’s Analysis
The move is promising, but it might not be seamless. Mount replacing Christian EriksenNext to Casemiro. Mount could provide the same progressive passing, set-piece delivery and late entries into the box of Eriksen while improving United’s defensive intensity when out of possession.
There is some method in United’s pursuit of someone seven years younger than the Dane who can provide similar attacking output plus superior defensive resistance. The question is whether being better than Eriksen or United’s other box-to-box midfielders is a good enough benchmark for what United want to achieve in future seasons.
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