Frank Lampard has come to the defence of Chelsea star Mason Mount amid speculation about his future at the club. Mount has been a key player for Chelsea in recent years, but has struggled to secure a regular place in the team under Graham Potter’s management. With his contract set to expire in just over a year and Chelsea under pressure to sell players to comply with Financial Fair Play regulations, Mount could become the first high-profile departure under Todd Boehly’s ownership.
Chelsea are keen for Mount to commit his future to the club, but have set a £70million asking price in the knowledge that Liverpool and Bayern Munich are monitoring his situation. Lampard has dismissed any doubts about Mount’s ability, stating that he is already a top-level player. He added that form is something that people can debate, but from working with Mount, he is clearly a top player.
Lampard was part of a period of enormous success under Abramovich, winning 11 major honours and becoming the club’s all-time top scorer. A lack of continuity with the past has drawn criticism since Boehly bought the club, both in terms of people working behind the scenes and player recruitment. Lampard’s appointment until the end of the season has given the team’s newer players a point of connection with past successes at Stamford Bridge.
Lampard believes that culture in a training ground and at a club is massively important, and that change is something that can scare people. However, he believes that change is necessary for good reason to keep driving the building forward. Having good people and a good culture at the training ground is important as it has a reflection on performance. The most important jobs are the players on the pitch, and Lampard remembers being at Chelsea in the early 2000s when Roman Abramovich came in. People were panicking as much as they were excited, but then 20-odd trophies later, those trophies didn’t come in the first year.
In other news, Chelsea have made contact with three goalkeepers to replace Kepa Arrizabalaga and Edouard Mendy, while Troy Deeney has warned Liverpool against signing two Chelsea players and made a Jude Bellingham transfer prediction. For more stories like this, check our sport page and follow Metro Sport on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.