Chelsea youngster Mason Mount, currently on loan at promotion-chasing Derby County, has revealed that West Ham star Declan Rice remains a fan of the Blues.
The 20-year-old midfielder has been one of the most impressive young players in Europe this season, with a series of exciting displays for the Hammers that saw him win his first two senior caps for the England national team.
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Rice’s performances have also led to the Irish Independent linking him as a £50million transfer target for Manchester United, who could undoubtedly benefit from his hard-work and quality in that defensive midfield role.
However, Mount, who knows Rice from their time together in the Chelsea academy, has slipped in during an interview with the Times that the Hammers starlet is a Chelsea boy through and through.
“I have had that season out in Holland and come back to the Championship and the next move for me is I want to play in the Premier League,” Mount said.
“I have close friends playing in there like Declan (Rice). He is playing week in week out and I speak to him a lot.
“Declan says it is very tough but he has done unbelievably well this season.
“I am very proud of him. We were at Chelsea from a young age and he got released. He has had a different pathway but you see what he is doing now, he is doing so well.
“It shows what he is like as a boy that he has that fight and that desire. To be knocked down and released by what is his club — he has always supported Chelsea — is tough and tough to come back from.”
Could this give CFC an edge in any potential future transfer battle for his signature? It remains to be seen, but for now they perhaps don’t urgently need to strengthen that position anyway due to having the likes of N’Golo Kante, Jorginho, Ross Barkley and Ruben Loftus-Cheek to choose from.