Todd Boehly has been handed a big warning that Mason Mount's transfer away from Chelsea this summer may not be as straight forward as it seems. The player is already at the centre of mass speculation after failing to agree to new terms with the club despite months of back and forth.
As he prepares to enter the final 12-months of his deal an early window ultimatum is already on the table as Chelsea are set to sanction a sale if nothing can be finalised between the two parties. Todd Boehly and Mauricio Pochettino are both keen on keeping Mount at the club, football.london understands, but confusion and changed goalposts over the winter have seen talks reach a stalemate.
The new owners now face the real prospect of having to part with a two-time player of the season that is not only a match-going fan favourite but also a shining light of the club's academy. Although new interactions are expected before any sale is granted, it doesn't look promising.
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It means that Chelsea are still playing catch-up, here as Mount is expected to agree personal terms with Manchester United, football.london has been told. The Red Devils are said to be his preferred destination despite interest from Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Liverpool and a bid is on its way.
Meanwhile, Mount is on holiday and faces a potentially career-defining decision when he returns, should Chelsea concede that no agreement is possible. They won't stand in the way of a move away as long as the transfer fee is big enough. In order to not repeat the same mistakes made last summer when Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen both left for free, a sale is on the cards.
The issue being, outside of losing Mount in general, that Chelsea have a lofty valuation for a player that has less than one year on his contract and will reduce in value for every passing day. United, or any other potential suitor, are in a stronger negotiating position than Chelsea, who risk losing him for nothing if no transfer takes place.
The reported bid set to come in for the 24-year-old is of £50m ($62m). That falls below the £60m ($74.4m) price tag placed on him. That alone is already less than the club would truly value him at with a figure closer to £70m ($86.8m) being their real hope.
Convincing any side, let alone a rival, to part with more than £50m for a player that has one-year left is always a challenge and one that stands in front of Boehly-Clearlake this summer. Liverpool themselves have already shown just how wild the market is, securing a deal for Alexis Mac Allister for a reported £45m ($55.8m).
That is a deal to take him from one of the toughest negotiators around, in Brighton, despite having a stellar individual season. Mac Allister is the same age as Mount, has two-years on his contract - though the extra year was added in October - and has had a better season in terms of output and success than Mount. Here he is set for a move to a Premier League rival for a tiny amount, all considered.
Brighton are said to have had £70m price tag of their own on the player over the winter and he only signed a new deal earlier this season. Such is the weight of the contract, Brighton's position was massively weakened. Chelsea are facing the same prospect.
Mac Allister scored more than three times as many league goals as Mount this season and had the same amount of assists. The players are comparable at this stage and therefore the transfer is a word of warning for Chelsea.
If Boehly still readily expects rivals to stump up grand sums of money for a transfer then he may well be disappointed.
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