News that Manchester City are ‘monitoring’ a Liverpool target will often attract groans from the latter’s fanbase in light of the Sky Blues’ superior resources.
That being said, one report from The Athletic has now claimed that the Merseysiders ‘appear in the strongest position’ with regards to potentially landing Mason Mount, who continues to enjoy links to Pep Guardiola’s outfit and that of city rivals Manchester United.
“Manchester United, Manchester City, Newcastle United and even Tottenham have been monitoring his situation since last summer,” Raphael Honigstein and Simon Johnson wrote.
“The current league leaders, Arsenal, may well seek to strengthen their options at No 8 in the summer and will be well aware of Mount’s pedigree — even if, at present, that is as far as their ‘interest’ has extended to date.
“Rather, among rival Premier League clubs, it is Liverpool who appear in the strongest position when it comes to pursuing Mount’s signature.
“Liverpool will attempt a midfield revamp in the next window. Of their current midfielders, Naby Keita, James Milner and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are all on course to be out of contract this summer and Arthur Melo will return to Juventus at the end of a season-long loan, while Jordan Henderson and Thiago will be 33 and 32 respectively by the start of the next campaign.
“With that in mind, the interest in Mount from Anfield is serious.”
The Reds will likely feel further encouraged by the fact that Chelsea have been tipped to charge at least £50m, according to The Times (as relayed by The Boot Room) – what has to be considered a bargain for a 24-year-old England international.
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With a disagreement over wages underpinning the latest contract saga at Stamford Bridge, we’ll need to tread carefully when it comes to pursuing the long-serving ‘incredible’ (as described by teammate Raheem Sterling on the Lions’ Den, via Chelsea Chronicle) Chelsea star.
That being said, opportunities to land Premier League-proven talent on the cheap don’t come about as regularly as we’d like, so if the midfielder’s demands fall into what our recruitment team and ownership deem an acceptable range, we’d hope to be absolutely all over it.
Add on top the fact that Mount qualifies as a homegrown star and it’s yet another cherry on top of an already decadent cake top clubs in England are steadily drooling over.