Chelsea respond to Manchester United's third and final offer for Mason Mount

Chelsea have rejected Manchester United’s third and final offer for Mason Mount but have put forward a counter proposal and want to meet in person to resolve the impasse.

The Red Devils already had two bids rejected by Chelsea – one for £40million and another for £50m – and were prepared to end talks after growing frustrated with the west London club’s hard-line stance.

United lodged a final, take-it-or-leave-it offer for Mount on Friday afternoon and made it clear they would walk away from the deal if it was rejected.

Chelsea have been holding out for £70m but United felt their offer, worth in excess of £55m, is a fair price for a player who is out of contract next year and who has made it clear he wants to leave Stamford Bridge.

Now The Athletic are reporting that Chelsea have rejected the latest offer but put forward a counter proposal that is less than the £70m they have been demanding.

The Blues say they will accept a fixed fee of £58m plus £7m in add-ons – still £10m more than United’s third offer – and have offered to meet their United counterparts in person to find a solution.

There is still hope from Chelsea’s side that a deal can be achieved in plenty of time for Mount to take part in pre-season, though it remains to be seen if United will be true to their word and end talks.

Mount has been at Chelsea since joining the academy in 2005 but talks over a new contract hit an impasse, with the west Londoners unwilling to offer anything close to what he was demanding.

The 24-year-old currently earns less than £100,000-a-week at Chelsea and had been hoping to double that salary after establishing himself as a key player – and, indeed, winning the club’s Player of the Year two seasons running.

But Chelsea’s new ownership have changed the wage structure at the club – offering smaller salaries in exchange for longer term deals to new signings – and were not prepared to break from that trend. United, by contrast, are happy to cede to his salary demands.

The Blues have found contract renewals difficult in recent years, losing both Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger on free transfers last summer as well as N’Golo Kante this month.

Chelsea’s hierarchy have been adamant that they would not lose Mount on a free transfer as well but want to exact as big a fee as possible.

Much like the entire Chelsea team, Mount had a difficult campaign last season – one which was partly disrupted by injuries – and only netted three times and laid on two assists in 24 Premier League appearances.

His 2021/22 campaign was significantly more productive, however, and he managed to get in double digits for both goals and assists – scoring 11 times and laying on 10 assists in the Premier League.

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