Graham Potter says he hopes Chelsea can resolve Mason Mount’s contract situation quickly with the two parties at an impasse.

Academy graduate Mount is out of contract next summer and attracting interest from Premier League rivals as talks continue over a new deal.

The Blues are keen to tie the England midfielder down to a long-term deal, though his camp are not happy with the terms that have been discussed so far meaning little progress has been made.

Asked about the situation, Potter said: “It is always complicated, there are always negotiations.

“It is best that I leave it between Mason and the club, it is the best way for that to be dealt with as far as I’m concerned.

“He has been fantastic to work with, an important player for us and I hope it gets resolved quickly.”

After a run of below par performances, Mount – who is being tracked by THREE Premier League rivals – has been dropped from the starting line-up in Chelsea’s last two games, coming on from the bench against both West Ham and Borussia Dortmund.

Potter has been pleased with the reaction from the 24-year-old, who is in contention to start against Southampton this weekend.

Mount has a stunning record against the South Coast side, with the boyhood Portsmouth fan scoring four goals and claiming two assists in seven Premier League games against the Saints.

Tags: Chelsea, Graham Potter, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Mason Mount

Chelsea star Mason Mount has spoken out on speculation about his future at Stamford Bridge, with talks over a contract renewal stalling.

The 23-year-old is set to feature for England in Qatar after being included in Gareth Southgate’s 26-man World Cup squad.

Mount and the Blues have agreed to pause negotiations over a contract extension until he returns to Cobham, with both camps feeling positive that an agreement can be reached.

Chelsea remain confident that Mount will sign a new deal with the club despite recent reports suggesting Liverpool and Juventus are monitoring the English midfielder’s situation as he enters the final 18 months of his current contract.

Mount has insisted that he will not be distracted by uncertainty around his future as he battles to win a place in the England team, coming up against the likes of Phil Foden and James Maddison for their World Cup opener, as per the Evening Standard.

The 23-year-old said: “I have always been so focused on my football since I was in the academy.

“I know now there is a lot more media focus on me, but I do not look too much into that. I block it out.”

According to football.london, one of the main factors causing negotiations to drag on is down to the length of the new deal beign offered.

Reports had suggested Mount has already rejected a new seven-year deal offered to him, with the 23-year-old wanting a higher base salary to represent his importance to the team.

Tags: Chelsea, Mason Mount

Raheem Sterling has revealed his incredible superstition when he gets on a goalscoring run.

He said: “If I score, I’ll just try to wear the same trainers with my tracksuit to the next game.

“And if I don’t score it’s going back in the closet.

“When it comes to really big games, I try to get myself in the mindset of how I’m going to affect the game.

“The more I don’t think about the game and go about my everyday life the better, to try to block the noise out.

“One of my favourite apps to get ready for a game is YouTube, I like to escape a little in humour and distract myself from any nerves.”

Tags: Chelsea, Raheem Sterling

Former Blues star and coach Jody Morris has revealed the role Matthew Harding played in transforming Chelsea into a global force.

Friday marked the 25th anniversary of the death of lifelong Blues fan Harding in a helicopter crash which shocked football.

The Roman Abramovich era has heralded huge success for the London club.

But without Harding injecting £26million of his own money to rebuild Stamford Bridge and bring in stars such as Ruud Gullit and Gianluca Vialli, then the Russian billionaire may never have invested his fortunes.

Harding had made his fortune in insurance but answered the desperate plea of then-owner Ken Bates for much-needed finances to keep Chelsea going, then to build a club capable of competing.

Morris told The Sun: “Everybody thinks Chelsea started when Roman came in but all the success, and all that kind of blueprint for where the club was going, started with Matthew”.

He bankrolled the rebuild of the North Stand that now bears his name and provided the funds to sign Gullit, Vialli, Roberto Di Matteo and Mark Hughes.

The motivation was nothing more than being a die-hard Chelsea supporter from childhood, who just wanted the best for his club.

Ultimately, he did not live to see his investment rewarded with huge success but his era in the Stamford Bridge boardroom was the eventual springboard for turning a stagnant club into one of the most glamorous around.

Aged 42, he was one of four people killed when the helicopter he was travelling in crashed in fog on the way back from a match at Bolton on October 22, 1996.

And Morris — a passionate fan who came through the ranks to play for the Blues before going on to be Frank Lampard’s No 2 — knows just how big a role charismatic Harding played in Chelsea’s history.

Morris added: “It started with Glenn changing the training ground. And also the environment where you’d eat properly to play football the right way, with nutritionists and all that.

“That went hand in hand with this sort of time when Matthew Harding came on board. Not only was there someone like Glenn helping to change the environment, the mentality and the way that the club was run from a player’s perspective, you also had someone like Matthew doing similar but on a boardroom level.”

Tags: Chelsea, Jody Morris, Matthew Harding, Roman Abramovich

Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha has been singing the praises of Chelsea midfielder Connor Gallagher following his fantastic impact on-loan at Selhurst Park.

Speaking to talkSPORT, he said: “He’s a very good player to be honest, the thing he brings is that energy that we need, I’m sure everyone has seen it.

“Having Macca [James McArthur] next to him as well, he runs around as well. Obviously its been a couple of games but everyone can see Conor’s potential because he’s young, so he’s only going to get better.”

Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira equally praised Gallagher after the win over Tottenham Hotspur.

The Chelsea loanee was excellent in centre of midfield as Palace claimed an emphatic 3-0 victory at Selhurst Park.

“Conor loves football,” he said. “The energy he is bringing to the team is fantastic.

“He’s got a lot of energy and he would play well under any manager because of the passion he has for the game.”

Tags: Chelsea, Connor Gallagher, Crystal Palace, Wilfried Zaha

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel faces anxious wait to know if Edouard Mendy will be fit for the Premier League clash against Manchester City, saying it is a “race against pain and time”.

The shot-stopper missed Chelsea’s 3-0 away win over fierce rivals Tottenham with a hip injury.

And he’s due to miss Wednesday’s Carabao Cup tie against Aston Villa too.

But tomorrow’s game is not the worry for Chelsea in terms of getting Mendy fit.

They have Kepa Arrizabalaga or Marcus Bettinelli to fill the hole left by the 29-year-old.

Saturday’s six-pointer against City, however, will be a concern for the Blues.

Champions League-winning boss Thomas Tuchel confirmed Mendy’s absence for Wednesday.

And says an appearance on Saturday against City depends on how much pain the keeper is in come training on Thursday.

The German said: “Mendy cannot play [against Villa]. He is not training so far.

“We will try to do everything for Saturday and to reintegrate him tomorrow in individual training and hopefully in Thursday’s team training but not yet.

“It’s a matter of the amount of pain and the loads that we have for the players and there was quite some intensive games.

“I think it’s possible [he could play against City] but it’s a race against pain and a race against time so let’s see.

“Hopefully he will be back in team training on Thursday and if this goes well he can be ready for Saturday but I don’t know right now.”

Tags: Chelsea, Edouard Mendy, Manchester City, Thomas Tuchel

Reports in Spain and Italy claim Barcelona are offering to double the salary Lautaro Martinez would get in a new contract with Inter to ease their move for the prized striker.

Chelsea and Manchester City are both tracking Inter Milan forward Lautaro Martinez but will have to fight off interest from Barcelona.

The 22-year-old is tied down until June 2023, but already, according to Football Italia, discussing an extension with possible raise of the €111m release clause after an excellent campaign.

He scored 16 goals with four assists in 31 competitive appearances, including five in six Champions League games.

According to Sport, negotiations are not going well, because Lautaro Martinez and his agent know full well there are several clubs ready to snap him up this summer, even for the release clause.

Barcelona are by far the favourites, ahead of their rivals, especially if they include Arturo Vidal and other players as part of the deal.

Reports in Spain suggest Inter are offering a €4m per season salary at San Siro in the new contract, but Barcelona are ready to double that.

At this stage, a renewal seems unlikely and the Nerazzurri are almost resigned to losing the striker, albeit at a massive profit.

Despite the interest, Martinez’s representative Alberto Yaque admits there has been no formal talks about his clients future.

Tags: Chelsea, FC Barcelona, Lautaro Martinez, Manchester City

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has said the club’s board back his decision to drop goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga to the bench.

Kepa became the world’s most expensive goalkeeper when he moved to the West London club for £71.5million last season – however Willy Cabellero has been Lampard’s No 1 goalkeeper in recent weeks.

According to ESPN, Lampard said:”I am absolutely together with the club and the board.

“We all want the best. I am paid to make decisions.

“It has been a decision to make on form with the goalkeeping situation. Recently it’s just changed, but that’s nothing final.

“All Kepa needs to do is train and show a great attitude, as I demand from all the players. And things can obviously change.”

Tags: Chelsea, Frank Lampard, Kepa Arrizabalaga

Chelsea’s Brazilian star Willian is coming to the end of his contract but is eager to stay in London…but not necessarily at Stamford Bridge!

Goal are reporting Willian is keen to secure a move to another London club if he cannot agree a contract extension with the Blues hierarchy.

Family is the driving factor behind the former Anzi Makhachkala star’s desire to remain in the capital and the news will put Chelsea’s Premier League rivals on red alert.

Willian wrote in The Players’ Tribune: “London is where I want to stay. This is where I have my family, my church. I want my daughters to grow up here.”

Tags: Chelsea, Willian

Arsenal and Chelsea fans have expressed their anger over reports that Tottenham Hotspur have opened talks for Chelsea’s Olivier Giroud.

The Blues striker, whose current contract expires in the summer, is set to leave Stamford Bridge in search of regular game time ahead of the European Championships in the summer.

Giroud won the FA Cup in his first season at Chelsea, and played a significant role in the Blues’ Europa League triumph the following year under Maurizio Sarri.

However, the arrival of current boss Frank Lampard and the emergence of Tammy Abraham as the club’s first choice striker has seen the former Arsenal man slip down the pecking order.

Inter Milan have been closely linked with a move for the 33-year-old, with boss Antonio Conte thought to be keen on reunion with the forward, report football.london.

But according to Di Marzio, the Serie A side would prefer to sign the striker on a free transfer in the summer, which has alerted Spurs.

And the report claims Jose Mourinho have made an approach to sign Giroud before Friday’s deadline, as they step up their search for a striker.

Chelsea and Arsenal fans took to social media to react to the reports, with many less than pleased about the prospect of seeing the forward playing for fierce rivals Tottenham.

No one ever post a Giroud goal for Arsenal on my timeline ever again. What an absolute snake.

— jack (@AllezAfcJacques) January 29, 2020

https://twitter.com/winfieldlloyd/status/1222303902017691648?s=20

I pray I dont see giroud in a spurs shirt 😭

— W34VY (@thekurtdude) January 29, 2020

Lacazette is so bad I'm thinking Giroud would be a decent signing for us

— Jax Belmont (@Benjvillain) January 28, 2020

Hearing that Olivier Giroud is about to do a William Gallas pic.twitter.com/fAC52oY0EB

— 🍝 (@arka_afc) January 29, 2020

Exactly!
Arsenal sold giroud to chelsea and we used giroud to get top 4 instead of them.
It would be a huge mistake if chelsea sell giroud to any top 4 rival

— 𝓞𝓵𝓲𝓼𝓮 𝓐𝓭𝓲𝓰𝔀𝓮 ✰ (@Olisinho_______) January 29, 2020

Tags: Chelsea, Olivier Giroud, Tottenham Hotspur