Exactly how the Mason Mount saga will end is not yet known. What is certain right now is the Chelsea star has a massive decision to make.
It is complicated by the dilemma Mount finds himself in the middle of.
Coveted by some of England’s biggest clubs – and others abroad too - while his boyhood one, Chelsea, have yet to produce a contract offer which shows they value him in quite the same way as his suitors leaving his long-term future in serious doubt.
Young, English, and already with a wealth of experience at club and international level, Mount is considered a unique opportunity by his admirers who include Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United.
And the prospect of the 24 year-old leaving the club he has been at since he was six is a real one. Some currently consider it the more likely outcome.
Mount is a player who knows his worth and qualities, once pulling Thomas Tuchel to one side to argue that he and his fellow academy prospects can be trusted after the German predominantly opted for experience over youth in his debut game in charge against Wolves in 2021, a passionate reaction Chelsea’s former manager loved.
He has also more than proved himself by winning Chelsea’s player of the season in two successive seasons.
Yet just as he may be torn over what to do there remains a split in opinion over Mount.
Technically gifted, equally capable of scoring and assisting, versatile, reliable fitness-wise and tactically plus a relentless worker who takes defeat personally, it is not hard to see why Mount is a manager’s dream.
All of those he has had end up reaching the same conclusion.
One of his biggest fans, current Chelsea caretaker Frank Lampard, said last month: ‘If anyone thinks Mason Mount is not already a top-level player then I’m not sure what they’re seeing.
‘You can ask myself, Thomas Tuchel, Gareth Southgate, Graham Potter - it’s clear he’s a top player.’
Despite that and the further endorsement of his ability via the interest in his services, doubts remain among his critics about exactly he brings to the table.
Accusations he benefitted from favouritism from Lampard earlier in his career and once finding himself, not through choice, in a battle for the nation’s affections with then England fans’ favourite Jack Grealish might not have helped perceptions either.
Following Chelsea’s change of ownership last summer, the value of the club’s academy products was said to be something co-owner Todd Boehly and Co understood and were keen to recognise in contract offers.
They did that in the deal done for Reece James, worth around £250,000-per-week, but they have yet to meet Mount’s demands.
Since then, the exact direction the club are heading has become unclear, muddying the waters a little.
Concerns have also been expressed about whether the club’s FFP position, after spending almost £600m in the last two windows, is a factor that might have altered their view of the club’s academy products too. Their sales will look better on Chelsea’s balance sheet.
Chelsea’s new regime want to end the days of players entering the final two years of their contracts with their futures unresolved.
But they inherited the situation of Mount whose current deal is up in 2024.
It is one that could have been avoided as, under the previous regime, talks over a new deal for Mount worth around £200,000-per-week were at one stage heading in the right direction before a late moving of the goalposts led to the matter being put on the backburner.
Mount has remained on around £80,000 per-week since.
Those previous discussions were led by Marina Granovskaia, the new hierarchy including then interim sporting director Boehly picked up the baton in the summer and the matter is now primarily in the hands of co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, with Boehly and Behdad Eghbali keeping across the situation.
Boehly addressed the issue with Mount last month, reminding him of his importance, and further discussions are expected to take place following the season’s end and before Mount heads off for his summer break.
Mount’s contract situation and attempt to land a new deal have come at a time when he is enduring his most difficult season yet as a Chelsea player.
The doubts about his future and standing at the club have been factors in how his campaign has panned out along with all the well-documented, unsettling upheaval at Chelsea. Like many of his teammates he has suffered individually amid the team’s season to forget.
He has started just one game since starting the first game following Chelsea’s January influx against Fulham, the increased competition coming at a time when he was already not at his best, contributing to Mount being increasingly squeezed out.
Just as big a factor - to some an even bigger one - is his pubic bone injury.
Rarely injured before, the issue has been troubling him for much of the second half of the season.
Both he and the club tried their best to manage it and keep him available given Chelsea’s plight but he eventually succumbed and had to go under the knife last month.
Mount’s predicament is a tricky one for Lampard who is firmly in Mount’s corner but in his current position has to tread carefully around a sensitive situation between the player and club.
Little surprises him in football anymore he said when asked about things reaching a point where one of their homegrown success stories could leave.
Lampard added: ‘It's important that we try and keep that feeling that younger players can see a pathway, get into the Chelsea team and play for the team they grow to love which is Mason, Reece James etc.
‘Of course in an ideal world I think those players stay with the club but the modern football world isn't always clear and, where I’m no part of this on e, I want to comment much more than that
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