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Frank Lampard talks about Mason Mount’s future after injury blow.
Frank Lampard has addressed Mason Mount’s future after confirming the Liverpool-linked midfielder is set to miss the rest of the season.
Mount has had many conversations with Chelsea’s upper management but has not yet agreed to a contract extension with his previous team.
The midfielder will most likely not play any more this season amid concerns about his future because he will be having surgery to correct a pelvic issue.
Despite his injury problems, Mount has attracted plenty of interest from teams as he is strongly connected with familiar rivals Liverpool, with Arsenal, Manchester United, and Bayern Munich also ramping up their efforts to sign the player.
When Lampard was asked if Mount has played his last game for Chelsea, he replied: “I don’t know the answer to that, it’s a conversation between Mason and the club, so I don’t know. It’s not final at this point and we’ll have to see because those conversations are ongoing.”
“It’s a shame for me personally because I think everyone knows how I feel about working with Mason and I like to think he feels the same about me, and we could have done with him in the games we’ve played already this season. But the bigger picture is something that’s going to become clearer in the next weeks and months, and that will be the club and Mason together having conversations.”
Lampard made it clear that he is not involved in the negotiations and is in no position to impact the decision of the player or the club. “At this point, it’s not my opinion that will be the resolution. It will be the opinion of the club and the opinion of Mason, so that’s between them. I think my opinion is pretty clear, I don’t need to spell out what I think of Mason as a player, but it’s not my one to get into, that’s between them,” he added.
The interim manager also defended Mount’s drop in form and insisted that the England international continues to be one of the best players in his position.
“There’s no doubt Mason is a top-class player with what he brings the team in and out of possession,” said Lampard. “Form will always waver slightly but the top players manage to gain great consistency and he’s been Chelsea Player of the Year in a couple of seasons with a lot of top players around him. People think it’s easy to play with top players around you. It’s not easy and he’s managed to do that.”
According to reports, Todd Boehly has spoken with Mount personally to persuade him to stay at Stamford Bridge. The player, whose current contract is slated to end in 2024, has rejected all attempts to reach a contract agreement because he wants a long-term agreement while the Blues are only interested in one or two-year deals.