Graham Potter explains Mason Mount snub against Aston Villa amid uncertain future
Chelsea manager Graham Potter has suggested that a lack of recent training after an injury was responsible for Mason Mount being left an unused substitute in Saturday’s Premier League defeat to Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge.
The result saw Villa leapfrog the Blues, who are now languishing in the bottom half of the table. Potter’s team have won just three of 13 league games played in 2023 and are on course for a lowest league finish since 1995/96 (also 11th) if things don’t improve.
Having gone behind to a first half goal from Ollie Watkins and then seeing John McGinn double Villa’s lead 11 minutes after the interval, Chelsea fans would have expected Mount to be a player who could come on and potentially make a difference.
Instead, Potter responded to Villa’s second goal by throwing on N’Golo Kante and Noni Madueke, before switching things up with Christian Pulisic and Conor Gallagher later on.
There was no opportunity for Mount, who was back in the squad for the first time since February after missing all four games plus international duty in March with a bruised pelvis.
“With Mason, I just felt we were there in the game,” Potter reflected. “We made some attacking subs and wanted to see how it all landed. Mason is coming back and only had a couple of days training.”
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Mason Mount’s uncertain Chelsea future
It is becoming increasingly uncertain whether Mount will still be a Chelsea player next season as he nears the final year of his contract and talks over a new deal have yet to yield an agreement.
90min reported in late March that negotiations have stalled in recent weeks and that Chelsea, whose preference is to keep the home-grown player, will reluctantly listen to offers this coming summer if still no new contract is agreed. It is part of a new approach from the Stamford Bridge hierarchy to avoid players entering the final two years of their contracts to protect re-sell value.
90min has also previously explained that Mount himself has a preference to stay at Chelsea, the club he first joined as a child around 18 years ago, but is yet to be satisfied by the terms offered.
Liverpool are known to be interested in 24-year-old Mount, with Manchester United, Manchester City and Newcastle also considered potential approaches. 90min understands that Bayern Munich are the latest club to show interest, with club officials consulting new boss Thomas Tuchel, who worked with the player at Chelsea for just over two and a half years.
Bayern are additionally keen on Kai Havertz as a long-term replacement for Thomas Muller. Chelsea signed the German forward in 2020 in a deal worth up to £71m after add-ons. But while he scored the winner in the 2021 Champions League final, he has struggled to consistently perform.
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On this edition of Son of Chelsea, part of the 90min podcast network, Daniel Childs reacts to Chelsea's 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday in the Premier League. Graham Potter now has taken the Blues into the bottom half of the table, could this be the end for him as head coach? If you can't see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!