When asked if he was close to joining Manchester United this summer, Chelsea contract rebel Mason Mount burst out laughing and attempted to deflect the issue.
After negotiations for a contract extension came to a standstill, the 24-year-old’s likelihood of leaving Stamford Bridge increased. United started talks with Chelsea after reaching a personal agreement with the midfielder.
The west London club has reluctantly agreed that they must sell Mount now rather than take the chance of losing him for free in a year, despite their preference to lock him down to a fresh, long-term contract.
Although Liverpool and Arsenal are rumored to be interested, United has now emerged as the overwhelming favorite to land him.
With the season ended, Mount spent the weekend in Barcelona watching the Spanish Grand Prix together with a number of other well-known footballers. Sky Sports’ Martin Brundle caught Mount on the grid walk.
Unlike teammates Reece James and Ben Chilwell, the England international had avoided interviews up until that point, but he was located in Barcelona just before the final whistle.
When Chilwell encouraged F1 analyst Brundle to speak with Mount, the left-back allegedly indicated his teammate was joining United.
Mount laughed at the comment and turned away, before replying: ‘No, I’m here to just enjoy this race today. Amazing day. Can’t wait to watch it.’
Despite the fact that Mount has only one year left on his contract, Chelsea is reportedly asking for up to £75 million for him.
According to recent rumours, Harry Maguire might even be offered to the Blues as a potential makeweight even though United are believed to be offering much less than that.
When asked about Mount’s impending exit earlier in the day, both James and Chilwell responded, with the right-back telling Sky Sports: “If he goes, everyone will be sad to see him go.”
Chilwell added: ‘I mean, that’s none of my business personally, but I’d love him to stay.
‘He’s my best mate. Personally I’d love him to stay but it’s not my business, I can’t really comment on that.’
With Chelsea in need of a major clean-out and the midfield ready for a major reconstruction, Mateo Kovacic, who has one year remaining on his contract and might join Manchester City, and N’Golo Kante, whose contract expires at the end of the month, Mount is not expected to be the only high-profile player to leave the club this summer.