Mason Mount will report for pre-season at Chelsea if his proposed move to Manchester United is not resolved, despite Mauricio Pochettino preferring not to have wantaway players training with the squad.
Man Utd have now had three bids turned down by Chelsea for Mount, with the latest said to be worth around £55m.
It is understood that Chelsea are looking for £57m plus another £8m in potential add-ons, taking the deal up to £65m, but reports over the weekend suggested Man Utd were ‘unhappy’ with Chelsea’s negotiations.
Mount has agreed personal terms with United and wants the move having refused contract extensions at his boyhood club, who have made it clear that he will be sold this summer rather than staying and leaving for free next year.
But if Chelsea don’t lower their £65m demand it looks as though Mount’s future won’t be resolved before he’s expected to join his teammates at pre-season training.
The Blues players are due to start returning to Chelsea’s Cobham training ground from next Tuesday, with those who have been on international duty with their countries getting some extra time off.
But The Telegraph claim Pochettino has made it clear that he would prefer not to take players angling for moves away on their pre-season tour of the United States, which starts on July 17.
The report adds: ‘One of those is Mount, but the midfielder is set to tell Pochettino that he will continue to give everything for Chelsea while he is still a player at the club and that he is prepared to go on tour and work hard ahead of next season.
‘It is understood that Pochettino, whose Chelsea contract does not start until July 1, has not involved himself in the Mount situation up until now, but the Argentine would be likely to meet with the player if his future remains unresolved once they start working together.’
Mount’s far from the only Chelsea player who looks set to leave but is yet to secure a move away, with Romelu Lukaku, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Christian Pulisic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek among those heavily linked with the exit.
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