Mason Mount has admitted it became "clear" to him that he was no longer a part of Chelsea's long-term plans and that is why he chose to leave Stamford Bridge this summer.
The England international ended his 18-year affiliation with the Blues on Wednesday as it was announced that he was now a Manchester United player after months of speculation. Mount had less than 12 months of his contract remaining at Chelsea but he has now signed for Man United in a deal that could eventually rise to as much as £60 million.
Chelsea and Mount were close to agreeing on an extension on his contract before last year's FIFA World Cup, where the 24-year-old represented England in Qatar. Mount and his entourage had spoken with Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali about fresh terms on a deal and a verbal agreement had seemingly been reached.
So much so that Boehly was prepared to send lawyers out to Qatar to get the deal signed and sealed. However, Mount - who was playing in his first World Cup campaign - wanted to focus on his football.
When Mount arrived back, after England were knocked out at the quarter-final stage to France, the offer was off the table. Negotiations between the two parties continued and in February, the club offered Mount a one-year extension on his deal that would see his salary massively increase.
The Cobham graduate turned the offer down, though, as he wanted other elements of the contract to be resolved. That turned out to be Chelsea's final official offer to Mount, football.london understands, and the player grew increasingly frustrated with how the club handled the situation.
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Liverpool emerged as the early front-runners for Mount's signature after doing most of the groundwork before the season ended. Man United, though, came calling at a later stage and once they did, Mount's mind was made up - he wanted to move to Old Trafford.
The England midfielder has got his wish. He will wear the iconic No.7 shirt at the Red Devils. Mount actually cut his holiday short to seal the move to Manchester, as he revealed to the club's in-house media after completing the transfer.
"It's been an amazing couple of days. Coming here and meeting everyone at the training ground, it's been such a warm welcome," Mount said to MUTV. "I feel very much at home already.
"We had a little trip to Disneyland for the niece, really. I enjoyed it of course, but we came back a bit early to make our way up here. It was well worth it and it's great to be up here now."
Mount was also asked about when he knew it was the right time to begin a new chapter in his career. He said that a few months ago, he got the feeling that he was no longer a significant player at Stamford Bridge.
"Several months ago, it became clear that I wasn't in Chelsea's plans moving forward," he added. "Once I found out United were involved, my decision was made up. [It's a] massive club. Some huge and iconic players have played here and I wanted to be a part of that from the beginning. Getting in early before pre-season started was a main objective of mine as well."
