Mason
Mount is looking forward to prolonging his Chelsea career by signing a new
contract at Stamford Bridge ahead of a big tilt at winning the Premier
League title this coming season.
The England midfielder's current deal expires in June 2024, but Mount admits
he is already preparing for talks with new owner Todd Boehly over the coming
months as the 23-year-old looks to commit his long-term future to the club
he joined as a boy at Cobham.
Chelsea finished third in the Premier League last term and missed out on
domestic silverware as they were beaten on penalties by Liverpool in both
the League Cup and FA Cup - but Mount is targeting further honours over the
coming campaign for club and country.
When asked about his forthcoming plans for the new season, Mount was open
about his contract situation, telling Sky Sports: "I've got two years but
I'm extremely happy at this club. I've been here since six years old, so I
think maybe over the next couple of months the talks will start, so
obviously it's exciting.
"Every new year is special. I didn't get to go away on a pre-season tour
last season so to come here (Los Angeles) has been brilliant to get back at
it. All the boys have been buzzing, a really good feel around the group and
to get back training and working hard that's what we want to do. We've got a
massive season coming up.
"After every year I feel I'm definitely getting older, more experienced, I
still feel young but I need to step up and be a leader. As I play quite a
lot of games and I am experienced for my age to be able to speak to the
younger boys because I've been there and done that... to give them
confidence when they come and train because it can be difficult when you
come away on a pre-season tour.
"But I was just saying to them do what you do, you don't need to do anything
special, just play what your game is and you'll definitely impress the
manager. That's the advice I'd give and to try to make them feel welcome.
"Of course, winning the title is always the goal, that's always my goal
personally you want to win the Premier League. It's very tough to do that
because you have to be so consistent throughout. We started last season very
well and we were in a good position and then you lose a few games, drop a
few points and you're third and it happens so quickly. We experienced that
last season and probably the last three so now it's something we need to
change."
Reassuring the Boehly-Clearlake consortium and Chelsea supporters that he
wants to stay at the club comes as a huge boost with less than a month to go
before the start of the new season.
Mount's stock has risen since he agreed his current deal three years ago but
the England international knows improvements will be required in every
department if Chelsea are to claw back the 19-point gap to defending
champions Manchester City.
Winning the Club World Cup and European Super Cup last term meant it wasn't
an entirely fruitless first full season under Thomas Tuchel, but the
ambitious Mount is hungry for more with England also preparing for the Qatar
World Cup which starts in November.
"Every single season you want to do more," he adds. "You want to win more so
for me personally setting higher goals and us a team we won two good
trophies last season and it could have been four. So we want to step up,
keep going. We're a team and club that win things with that winning
mentality. I can definitely see us pushing on and wanting to be successful
next season.
"You have to be so on it every single game. It's 100 points to win the
league and even then it's very tight and coming down to the last game. It's
very difficult and that's why it's the best league in the world. You want to
play in that competition, you want to have those battles with the teams that
are up there. That's what makes the games against those teams so big. We
have to be ready for that."
"Numbers-wise I think last season was my best, especially at Chelsea [Mount
was top for goal involvements registering 13 goals and 16 assists]. It was a
focus of mine before the season to really kick on in that front and be able
to make myself a threat going forward.
"The season before that I felt I really excelled off the ball, working hard
and being someone within the team winning balls back and pressing from the
front and last season it was a focus of mine to really up the numbers and be
up there goals and assists wise. I set goals before the season and I managed
to reach them. For me it was a good season.
"Overall, performance-wise it could have been better, I could have had
better performances throughout the whole season but I was happy with it and
now you look forward to the next."
The Boehly-led consortium completed a £4.25billion takeover of Chelsea in
late May, ending Roman Abramovich's 19-year ownership of the club.
The new owners are "committed to investing in key areas that will extend and
enhance Chelsea's competitiveness, including the redevelopment of Stamford
Bridge, further investment in the academy, the women's team and Kingsmeadow
stadium," adding they will "continue the important work of the Chelsea
Foundation".
With the first-team squad also under development, there is plenty of
enthusiasm in the Chelsea air - and Mount revealed the new owner has already
spoken to the players about what he expects.
"He's been very close ever since it got announced," he adds. "Before I came
back most of the consortium were at the training ground and around the boys
and the coaching staff, which is obviously good to see and starting to build
bonds and be very close. It's only the beginning but it's very exciting for
us and we're looking forward to what the future holds.
"To have that long reign under Roman, it's changed very quickly, it's a new
start, you have to get used to it very quickly and they've been brilliant so
far, come in and filled us with a lot of confidence. Us as players we've
always focused on what we can do on the pitch but it fills you with
confidence when you know everything's under control away from the pitch.
"There's a lot going on with every club and that's what makes the Premier
League exciting. Every season you don't know which team is going to be
pushing, which team is going to be really strong until the first game. We're
excited and we focus on what's going on here within the club and doing what
we can on the football pitch to be ready for that first game but I'm
buzzing, I'm excited it's another season and we're ready."
The new season pauses for the World Cup in Qatar after 16 rounds of Premier
League action so the players heading to the tournament will face a new
challenge this time around.
It is one Mount is ready to take in his stride.
"It's going to be weird to stop around Christmas time and carry on after it.
We'll see how it goes. We're so excited and looking forward to what the
World Cup is going to bring. There's such a buzz around the country,
especially after what happened last Euros. I feel like it's going to be a
good one. But for us as players it's going to be a long old season.
"You need a strong start. You want to go into the World Cup feeling good and
playing well as a team. Hopefully that's the case. We've got a few England
boys in this group, an American boy in this group as well who is going to be
in our group, so it's going to be exciting. We just need to stay strong as a
team."
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