Inside the Mason Mount contract saga – why is he leaving Chelsea?

Mason Mount’s time at Chelsea is coming to an end as Chelsea and Manchester United have finally struck an agreement on a transfer. In this article, I will try to provide some insight as to what happened behind the scenes between Chelsea, Mason Mount, and his agents.

Let’s start from the beginning, It is understood that Mason Mount had a broad agreement with Todd Boehly over a new deal, just before the World Cup.

The expectation on all sides back then was that Mount would sign once he came back from Qatar. Then, it is said that when he came back, that deal was pulled off the table by Chelsea’s new sporting directors.

It is thought that the sporting directors thought that the money offered by Boehly was too much, and then negotiations re-started, led by Paul Winstanley.

Mason Mount’s camp was unhappy, they did not understand why the owners would not stamp their authority down and go through with the broad agreement they had before the World Cup, pulling an offer off the table was seen as a rookie move.

Negotiations continued nonetheless as Mason Mount has wanted to stay at Chelsea this whole time. It was only when the one-year offer arrived in February that things changed.

Mount’s side saw this offer as a way for Chelsea to increase the value of the player instead of securing him to a new long-term deal and that the new directors did not value the player.

Chelsea argue that this contract offer was said to give all parties time to re-negotiate a longer-term contract, however, it is surely wildly unrealistic for a player to accept a new one-year deal beyond the situations where players have a one-year extension option on their current deals.

According to our information from a source, Mason Mount asked to leave after the one-year contract was offered and reviewed. In March, he then appointed Neil Fewings as his new agent, who started looking for moves away.

Liverpool was Mount’s preferred option and Fewings was known to have good connections inside Liverpool. It is understood though that Manchester United offered the best financial package and it could be the case that Liverpool also had troubles in negotiations with Mount’s side, but this is just a theory.

Pochettino has not had an impact on Mason Mount’s decision, because he has not had a chance given to him, Chelsea want Mount’s future sorted before Pochettino even has the chance to meet him.

The rumours of Pochettino pushing for Mount to stay are understood to be not true. The Argentine coach wants to be on board with the new directors, would he ideally like Mount to stay? Yes, but he has not been banging on the door or texting Winstanley or Stewart, thus, the relationship between the club and Mount’s side is broken.

It is my understanding that Mount has never wanted to leave Chelsea, he feels forced out by the club and undervalued. Mount asked to leave in February due to the one-year offer and the club agreed, but even when discussions started with other clubs, Chelsea did nothing to try and salvage the situation and the severity of the situation did not seem to alter the viewing inside Chelsea, even though there are some inside the club who have regret over the whole saga.

If Chelsea came back with another offer, with a longer contract length and a better pitch, I feel that Mount would have signed, and I also feel that Chelsea have done a good job of pushing negative information on Mount to the media which will get the majority of Chelsea fans on their side. As we know from past dealings, it is rare in contract talks that the club does everything right and are never at fault.

Mason will now be starting a new chapter at Manchester United, and we will never know what could have come of Mount’s career at Chelsea, which just a year ago, looked to be a long one.

*All information in this article comes from sources contacted by LondonsFirst, there is no making up of information to suit a narrative and individual opinions and views have been typed clearly, please contact Londonsfirst@gmail.com if you are in a position close to Chelsea or Mason Mount and want to discuss any information in this article further*