Chelsea were not happy with the way Liverpool tried to pursue the signing of Mason Mount this summer.
The Reds seemingly installed Mount as one of their top targets ahead of the summer window. However, the 24-year-old ultimately opted to join Manchester United.
And according to a report in The Athletic today, that choice may have been encouraged by Chelsea. They claim that the Blues were caused some ‘angst’ by the manner of Liverpool’s approach for Mount.
Quite what it was exactly that upset Chelsea so isn’t detailed.
But the insinuation is that the Reds’ failed move to sign the England international played a part in Chelsea’s later determination to land Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia ahead of them.
Chelsea upset with Reds over Mount
Why are visions of glass houses suddenly being conjured in our minds?
If Chelsea were upset with Liverpool’s pursuit of Mount, then perhaps they should take a long hard look in the mirror.
The Blues’ transfer practices have come under increasing scrutiny of late, and rightly so. Had they not so aggressively pursued Caicedo well before a fee had been agreed with Brighton, for example, perhaps he’d be a Liverpool player by now.
Their over-eager attempts to convince Michael Olise to join them from Crystal Palace appear to have caused some issues, too.
As a result, it’s pretty hard to feel too much sympathy for them on this one.
Either way, it could have been that their thinking ultimately did play a part in Liverpool losing out on Mount. It does seem as though the player’s first choice was always United, but maybe Chelsea pushed him more that way, too.
Nevertheless, early signs are that he’s not particularly well suited to his new club. As Paul Merson said prior to the summer, Mount was an ‘outstanding’ player for Chelsea [Sky Sports]. He could have been that for Liverpool too. Perhaps he made the wrong choice.
