Liverpool have a long-standing interest in Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount, dating back to trying to sign him when he was around 16 or 17 years old.
That’s according to journalist Neil Jones in the latest edition of his exclusive CaughtOffside column, with the Reds expert explaining why the club have ended up walking away from trying to sign Mount this summer.
Liverpool have already strengthened in midfield this summer by bringing in Alexis Mac Allister, though it seems there was genuine hope that they could sign Mount at one point as well.
Now, however, Manchester United look the firm favourites for the England international, as Liverpool felt the deal wouldn’t be good value due to Chelsea’s high demands for the player.
Mount will be out of contract in a year’s time, but it seems like United might still end up paying a lot for him due to Chelsea now being under less pressure to accept cut-price bids because they’ve also managed to offload a number of other players to Saudi Pro League clubs.
“While it might all be about Mason Mount and Manchester United now, I can confidently say that Liverpool were very interested in the Chelsea midfielder earlier this summer,” Jones said.
“He’s actually a player who’s long been on Liverpool’s radar, going back to when he was playing at youth level and there was a possibility that they could’ve signed him when he was about 16 or 17, but unfortunately it never materialised.
“There was, as I understand it, the genuine belief that there was a chance of signing Mount from Chelsea this summer, looking at his contract situation and the general state of Chelsea’s squad and the need for players to be sold this summer. I’m told Liverpool felt they had a genuine chance of getting him, but it then became clear that the big issue would be that Chelsea were asking for a lot of money for a player with just a year left on his contract.
“The player also made it clear that if he was to move, Manchester United would be the club he preferred. From that point, Liverpool walked away and put themselves out of the picture.
“Looking at how things have progressed since then, I think there’ll be some relief that they did walk away, because it looks like United are going to end up paying a lot for him. With Chelsea managing to offload a number of players like Kai Havertz, Mateo Kovacic, and the likes of Kalidou Koulibaly, Hakim Ziyech and Edouard Mendy to Saudi Arabia, there’s less of a need now for Chelsea to sell Mount for a fee they have to heavily compromise on.
“I certainly don’t see Liverpool coming back in for Mount, I could be proven wrong, but if the asking price stays at over £50m, I just don’t see Liverpool being in the mix. I think it’s now down to United and Chelsea to find a compromise, and from what I’m hearing it might not be too far away now anyway.”