Graham Potter refuses to rule out Mount departure as Liverpool ramp up interest in Chelsea maestro

Chelsea manager Graham Potter has praised star midfielder Mason Mount but refused to answer questions regarding a potential move to Liverpool in the summer.

The speculation regarding the England international’s future comes after talks over a contract extension have stalled, suggesting he is looking for a way out of the London club.

Mount currently has just over a year remaining on his current deal, so this summer would likely represent Chelsea’s last chance to recoup a substantial fee for the midfielder.

As previously reported by TEAMtalk, the feeling is that if Mount fails to sign a new deal at Stamford Bridge before the end of the current campaign, Chelsea will be forced to sell him.

This will come as a major blow to Potter and co, as the 24-year-old has been one of the club’s most important players in recent years.

Since breaking into the first team in 2019, Mount has made 192 appearances for Chelsea, scoring 33 goals and making 37 assists in the process.

He has been a key player in the club’s recent success, too, helping the Blues to lift a Champions League, a UEFA Super Cup and a FIFA Club World Cup so far.

This season, Mount has remained a key player under Potter, despite the record-breaking singing of Enzo Fernandez in January, with the Englishman making 23 league appearances.

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Potter remains tight-lipped on ‘top’ Mount

With that in mind, it would be a major blow for Chelsea to lose Mount to one of their biggest Premier League rivals – Liverpool, who are thought to be the favourites to pen a deal for him this summer. 

In a recent press conference, Potter was questioned on the future of Mount, who remains a very popular figure among the Stamford Bridge faithful.

He said: “Mason, for us, has been great to work with. He has been top. He is suffering like the rest of us because we want to do better and have better results.

“In terms of the contract, that’s between him and the club. I’m the head coach and my job is to work with the players and help them improve.

“At the moment, we’re not doing that as well as we’d like. So that is the focus for me.”

The English manager was then pressed as to whether Mount is part of the plans for beyond the summer, but he was reluctant to focus on anything beyond Chelsea’s upcoming matches, adding: “I’m not thinking about the summer, with the greatest respect.

“I’m thinking about tomorrow’s match: preparing the team, helping the team, getting better results and performances, and responding to the bad moment we’re in. That’s the focus.”

Evidently, talks over a new contract for Mount are still far from completion, so it seems increasingly likely that Mount could make a shock exit from Chelsea this summer.

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