Chelsea respond to Man Utd’s SECOND Mount transfer bid

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 22 Jun 2023 00:30 CDT
• 3 min read

Manchester United have seen an increased bid for Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount rejected by the Stamford Bridge club.

The Red Devils are fighting to sign the England star, having agreed personal terms but have been unable to meet the transfer demands of the Blues.

According to The Athletic’s David Ornstein, Man Utd launched a bid worth a total of £50 million for the 24-year-old. This comprised of a £45m upfront payment plus potentially £5m in bonuses. It represented a £10m improvement on their opening bid.

Sky Sports reports that the Stamford Bridge side have rejected the offer.

Chelsea’s asking price for the player is thought to be £70m - knocked down from a previous estimation of £85m.

Man Utd face two big Mount problems

Manchester United have two problems in this transfer saga.

The first is that the slow nature of their takeover has hampered Erik ten Hag’s transfer plans, giving him much less spending power than he might otherwise have expected.

With the Glazers still stalling on a deal – despite Sheikh Jassim having apparently moved into pole position to complete the buyout – Ten Hag’s transfer budget for the summer is increasingly unclear.

Meanwhile, the situation at Chelsea is becoming increasingly healthy, in part fuelled by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital’s relationship with Saudi Arabia’s PIF.

The Blues need to make sales to balance their books, but the Saudi Pro League, where the PIF hold 75% stakes in the four leading clubs, have stepped in to take some of their unwanted players away.

Deals are in place for Kalidou Koulibaly, Edouard Mendy and Hakim Ziyech to join N’Golo Kante in moving to the big-spending league.

Meanwhile, Kai Havertz and Mateo Kovacic are set to sign for Arsenal and Manchester City respectively in deals that will come close to a combined total of £100m.

Man Utd’s negotiating position for Mount is, therefore, increasingly poor, despite the player having just a year left on his current Chelsea deal.