Mason Mount: Chelsea rejects Manchester United’s second £50 million approach for England midfielder
Manchester United’s second proposal for Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount, valued up to £50 million, has been rejected.
Mount, 24, is a priority target for United boss Erik ten Hag, who is looking to bolster his squad after qualifying for next season’s Champions League.
Chelsea spent £600 million last season and must sell players by 30 June to alleviate Financial Fair Play (FFP) concerns.
Mount is said to be worth almost £70 million to the Blues.
On Wednesday, Arsenal agreed to pay £65 million for Mount’s Chelsea teammate Kai Havertz, while Manchester City agreed to pay £30 million for Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic.
Mount, who has scored 33 goals in 195 games for Chelsea since his debut in 2019, was injured towards the end of the domestic season, and the Blues finished 12th, their lowest finish in more than 25 years.
In 2021, he led Chelsea to a 1-0 victory over Manchester City in the Champions League final. With the Blues, he also won the Fifa Club World Cup and the Uefa Super Cup.
He has 36 England caps, scoring five goals, and was named to Gareth Southgate’s side for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Mount progressed through Chelsea’s youth system before joining Vitesse on loan for the 2017-18 season, where he scored nine goals in 29 Eredivisie games.
The following season, he was loaned to Derby County, where he scored eight goals in 35 Championship appearances under manager Frank Lampard as the Rams were defeated 2-1 in the play-off final by Aston Villa.
Mount made his debut for Chelsea in 2019 under newly appointed Lampard and quickly established himself as a crucial player at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea appointed former Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino as their new manager last month, replacing interim manager Lampard, who took over when Graham Potter was fired.