June 2023

Chelsea have rejected a second bid from Manchester United for midfielder Mason Mount.

The second offer is understood to be worth £50m - £45m guaranteed plus £5m in performance-related add-ons.

United clearly want to sign the England international but have a valuation in mind, which they are unlikely to go beyond.

Negotiations are expected to continue for Mount, who has one year left on his Chelsea contract.

Sky Sports News reported earlier this month United had made an opening offer worth £40m for Mount, which Chelsea also immediately knocked back.

Why Man Utd want Mount

Erik ten Hag first bumped into Mount when he was Ajax head coach. On loan at Vitesse Arnhem, the 18-year-old's free-kick led to his side's third goal as they beat Ajax 3-2 in March 2018.

Ten Hag, then in charge of just his eighth game at Ajax, reportedly tried to sign Mount for the Dutch club on loan from Chelsea the following season. Fourteen goals and 10 assists in his first full campaign of senior football, largely from central midfield, had caught Ten Hag's attention.

The likelihood of Mount staying at Stamford Bridge is remote with the midfielder unwilling to sign a new deal. Chelsea know this is the time to cash in on a player who has just one year left on his contract.

Ten Hag, it seems, could be about to get his man.

Has Man Utd's Shaw spoken to Mount?

Manchester United defender Luke Shaw was asked directly about the possibility of Mount joining his club while on England duty earlier this month.

Shaw and England manager Gareth Southgate both joked about how players have been "tapping up" each other during the June international break, which falls in the same month as the opening of the transfer window.

"There's a few," Shaw joked when asked about whether Mount is one of the players he has spoken to about a move.

"He [Mount] is not here, but it's all just a bit of banter really. Obviously we have a joke and a laugh about it.

"I'm not too sure what goes on behind the scenes, it's to do with the club really. But of course when we are here, we are always together and we have a joke about it. But I don't really know what's going on."