According to reports, Man Utd head coach Erik ten Hag has identified Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount as one of his main summer targets.
The Red Devils have improved since Ten Hag arrived last summer, but they are still far adrift of Premier League champions Man City.
A mass exodus is expected this summer with around ten players likely to be put up for sale. Exits are needed to raise funds for Man Utd’s own additions.
Last week, it was claimed that Man Utd have picked out Harry Kane, Declan Rice and Mount as their preferred targets. Together they could cost over £250m in transfer fees, with the Chelsea man valued at £85m.
Mount is out of contract in 2024 and it is looking increasingly likely that he will be sold by Chelsea this summer. The Blues also need to sell players after spending £600m on signings since Todd Boehly purchased the club.
The Englishman is admired by Liverpool, who are also understood to be looking at Brighton’s Alexis Mac Allister and Southampton’s Romeo Lavia.
In a potential blow to Liverpool, it was recently claimed that Mount is ‘leaning towards’ a move to Man Utd this summer.
The Telegraph are now reporting that ‘Ten Hag is confident he can persuade Mount to join Manchester United as part of a summer overhaul being demanded by the manager’.
Ten Hag is ‘frustrated’ that Man Utd did not spend in January and ‘their situation is complicated by the uncertainty about the club’s ownership’.
The Glazer family are ‘still to decide whether to accept bids for the club from Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who is the favourite, or Qatari Sheikh Jassim’ and ‘there are fears’ that the bidding process ‘will affect United’s transfer plans’.
The report claims the ‘priorities for Ten Hag this summer are a striker – the dream signing would be Tottenham Hotspur’s Kane – and a dynamic number eight, which is a position Mount could fill’.
United legend Gary Neville has explained why he is “not surprised” Mount is wanted by his former club.
“I’m not surprised Mason Mount is a target for Manchester United,” Neville told Sky Sports.
“I don’t think it would be a priority here, but he [Ten Hag] does want midfield players. You think about Dutch coaches, they want to dominate possession, he [Ten Hag] wants that [Frenkie] de Jong, he wants players who can handle the ball.
“He loves Eriksen, he loves [Marcel] Sabitzer, he loves Fernandes. He’s left Fred and [Scott] McTominay out of the team more often than not because he loves more technical players and Mason Mount is a technical player who is available.”
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