Reported Liverpool target Mason Mount is ‘very likely’ to leave Chelsea in the summer, according to Fabrizio Romano.
The England midfielder has been strongly linked with the Reds in recent weeks amid ongoing uncertainty over his future at Stamford Bridge, where his current deal is set to expire in 2024.
Earlier this week, The Telegraph reported that Blues co-owner Todd Boehly has ended his involvement in contract talks with the 24-year-old, instead delegating the task to co-sporting director Paul Winstanley, which saw negotiations ‘effectively put back to square one’.
Romano has now shared a significant claim regarding Mount’s off-field affairs, with the player changing his representatives.
Giving credit to the Daily Mail’s Matt Hughes, the Italian tweeted (via @FabrizioRomano): “Mason Mount has now appointed Neil Fewings as new agent, agreement done weeks ago — understand it’s very likely that he will leave Chelsea in July #CFC
“Fewings will now help Mount in talks, as first called by @MattHughesDM“.
Fewings is involved with the ROOF agency and has long-serving ties with Wasserman, with whom the Chelsea player has reportedly teamed up, according to Jacque Talbot (via Twitter).
Mason Mount has now appointed Neil Fewings as new agent, agreement done weeks ago — understand it’s very likely that he will leave Chelsea in July 🚨🔵 #CFC
Fewings will now help Mount in talks, as first called by @MattHughesDM. pic.twitter.com/TsgoGPpX7W
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) March 18, 2023
This appears to be a significant development regarding Mount’s future, as well as Liverpool’s pursuit of the player.
A change of agency can often pre-empt a transfer, while Romano’s claim about the 24-year-old being ‘very likely’ to depart Chelsea in the summer offers fresh hope to the Reds of bringing him to Anfield.
From our perspective, this appears to be an ideal turn of events. The need for new blood in our midfield has been exacerbated this week by the season-ending injury to Stefan Bajcetic, who had already been thrust into a starting role more frequently than many might’ve expected for his age and inexperience.
Mount is a Champions League winner and already knows the Premier League very well – playing 128 times in the division – along with winning 36 England caps (Transfermarkt), already accruing plenty of high-level experience at just 24.
With it looking increasingly likely that he could cut ties with Chelsea, Liverpool must pounce as numerous factors appear to turn in their favour.
Chelsea already have Mason Mount contract U-turn hope as Virgil van Dijk transfer call made
Mason Mount has made a massive decision regarding his future as transfer speculation continues. The Englishman appears to be heading for the exit door at Stamford Bridge with just over 14 months left on his contract.
The 24-year-old has already been given an ultimatum with Todd Boehly not willing to risk losing him for free in 2024, meaning he either signs a new deal or leaves over the summer. Unlike fellow academy graduates Reece James, Armando Broja and Trevoh Chalobah, who all signed long term contracts, Mount is yet to commit.
It is believed that he isn’t as set on the baseball style length being offered out by the new owners. With attention shifting the sumner, the possibility of Chelsea losing their two-time player of the season is a real one with interested parties across Europe including Liverpool.
Now, with crunch-time approaching, Mount has made a big choice which is sure to impact how any future talks go. According to the Daily Mail he has now joined with leading agent Neil Fewings. Having worked with a host of Liverpool-related clients including Virgil van Dijk, Harvey Elliot, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita, Fewings has connections to the Reds.
It is said that the move is to help smooth out a prospective transfer in the summer as the chances of him not being a Chelsea player next season increase week-on-week. Mount’s previous agent was his dad, Tony, who looked after him after the player left Stellar Football 18 months ago.
His absence hasn’t helped the cause either but there is still room for hope for those wishing to see him remain at the club. It was only in January that Brighton star Moises Caicedo was the centre of transfer rumours and even posted what appeared to be a goodbye message on social media.
The Ecuadorian stayed over the winter and has now signed a new deal on the south coast despite changing agent in order to push through a move to one of Chelsea or Arsenal. His choices do show that Mount’s future isn’t sown up just yet and that there is still room for a change in heart and a U-turn, all the indications at the current time would say otherwise though.
Alisson has been openly telling Liverpool what their problem is all season
While Liverpool have floundered around aimlessly in the dark for much of a tortuous campaign, there has been one consistent chink of light to which the rest of the team would be wise to follow.
So Alisson Becker is perhaps better placed than most to pass verdict on a season that, while still more than two months from its conclusion, is already guaranteed to have significant ramifications for the future.
And the goalkeeper hit the nail on the head when asked to assess the Reds’ Champions League round of 16 elimination at Real Madrid on Wednesday, when any hope of a stirring comeback was dashed by a subdued and increasingly disinterested performance from Jurgen Klopp’s side.
“We had a fantastic, incredible game against Manchester United,” said the goalkeeper. “Soon after, an inexplicable game against Bournemouth. And against Real Madrid, it’s not that we played badly, but we didn’t play enough to tie the game. There was a lack of attitude, a lot was lacking on our part.”
Alisson has been aware of the issue for some time. This was the keeper speaking after the Premier League defeat at United back in August.
“Teams, when they play against us, they know the way we play and they try to exploit that and they try to use that against us,” he said. “How do we change it? With our attitude changing that. Sometimes during the games we make a few mistakes that you get punished for that.”
Here was the Brazilian discussing the deeply unimpressive 2-1 win against Leicester City over the Christmas period, shortly after the resumption of the Premier League campaign following the World Cup.
“It’s going to be a really important moment of the season now and we have to focus,” said Alisson. “We have to do better. Sometimes it’s just a matter of mentality. It’s not that easy to change it but we can do that for sure. We have to do more. But we know that.”
And, after the dismal 3-0 reverse at Wolverhampton Wanderers in February, he said: “Football is a mental game as well. You go out on to the pitch, you prepare your game, you prepare your way to play, and then the first thing you do is mistakes and concede? It doesn’t help at all. When things like that happen all the time it’s so frustrating, but we have to fight against that frustration to bounce back.”
The message appeared to have got through following that Molineux mauling, with Liverpool embarking on a run of 13 points from 15 games in the Premier League with five clean sheets, culminating with the record-breaking 7-0 romp in the reverse fixture against United.
But if the heavy home loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League could, in some ways, be regarded as a freak aberration, the shocking loss at rock-bottom Bournemouth in midweek and the similarly timid surrender in the Bernabeu could not. It begs the question of whether the recent mini-revival was the outlier rather than the poor results. Liverpool have won only five of 15 games since the start of the year.
Certainly, there has been a recurring theme since the New Year in particular where more than just the performance of the squad has been questioned. On more than one occasion, Klopp has bemoaned poor body language of some of his charges, a remarkable fact given many of his personnel were the “mentality monsters” who dominated opponents for several years. Bodies may be tired after relentless football over past three years, but minds are too.
While hardly breaking ranks, it was intriguing Alisson has again freely spoken on what has become a clear shortcoming. It suggests not only that the players aware of the matter, but that there is a sense of frustration it hasn’t been universally addressed. That can be solved in two ways – the hard work of the coaching staff, or simply moving on players and bringing in new ones.
That, too, is an issue the players, particularly the senior ones, acknowledge, with Virgil van Dijk indicating the onus is on Fenway Sports Group and the recruitment team to back Klopp in the desired manner in the summer transfer window.
“Obviously players are going to leave, we have to recruit,” he said. “But everyone knows that’s going to be very difficult, it is going to be very difficult to find the right players but the club has to do their job in this case.”
Failing to qualify for the Champions League will make that job that little bit tougher. Change is needed at Liverpool – in terms of the mindset, the squad and the overall approach. And those at the coalface know it more than most.