Chelsea has been reported to have suspended/stalled contract talks with Chelsea forward, Mason Mount. His contract runs through June 2024, and according to Capology, he’s currently earning £80k/w. This is relatively low for the role he has played since he came into the side in the 2019/20 season.
He has been relatively prolific for the team, scoring 27 goals since he made his Premier League debut, playing over 30 league games per season, excluding this season. He was part of the side that went on that superb run en route to winning the Champions League, assisting in the final. Mount is right to feel that he deserves a significant pay raise, so his demands, whatever they are, should be looked at from that perspective.
The Blues’ owner, Todd Boehly, has spent extraordinary amounts of money this season on players, securing five players in the summer of the 2022 transfer window and securing eight signings in the winter of the 2023 transfer window.
Mason Mount and Chelsea have hit a dead end in contract talks
The west London club has been handling contract renewals one after the other, and this season alone, have made some notable contract extensions, including Reece James and Trevoh Chalobah. Mount was the next on the list, but contract talks have now stalled as the Blues have been unable to come to an agreement with the Chelsea forward.
Many fans feel that Mount is justified in asking for £250k/w, if that’s what he’s asking, as that is what James now earns. Some others feel that he would be deserving of something between £150-200k/w. Their reasons for these vary.
The general point many fans use in Mount’s favour is that he has been outperforming the other forwards in the side over the past three seasons, and should earn more than them. Some others mention that Mount’s fitness and availability has been impeccable, as opposed to that of Reece James, who has had to miss many games due to injuries, since the start of the 2019/20 when both players made their Chelsea debuts.
Both talking points have some merit, but not that much. Contracts are determined by the leverage either party has, and the major decider of who comes out on top would be who has more leverage. The point that Mount is outperforming other forwards in the squad does not make the case for Mount to earn as much as James, it makes the case that Mount should be earning more than the forwards he’s been outperforming over the past two seasons.
Football Insider has stated that Mount has been offered £180,000/week, which would be more wages than Hakim Ziyech, Christian Pulisic, Kai Havertz, and even Callum Hudson-Odoi. That means he’d be earning a higher than every forward that was at the club, that’s still at the club, since the 2020/21 season began.
It is also rumoured that the £180,000/week being offered to Mount is a base salary, and is subject to increase should he hit certain milestones. The club also thinks it’s fair for Mount to outearn the above-mentioned players at base level.
As for the availability point, his negotiating strategy cannot be “I hardly get injured. Some fans have pointed out that Wesley Fofana has not been available for the Blues for the majority of his time at west London, but Fofana had all the leverage when he was coming in, not least because Chelsea had lost Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger on free transfers and the whole football world that knew that the Blues needed to replace at least two senior center backs.
The Blues showed they were willing to spend up to £80 million to secure the Frenchman’s signature, so Fofana’s team took advantage of that. This was also the case with Kalidou Koulibaly’s contract.
From the club’s perspective, Mount represents an asset that can only bring a profit. As an academy product, Chelsea paid no transfer fees for Mount, so if he was to be sold, whatever they sold him for would be profit, and after spending as high as 600m this year, they need to sell players.
The Blues also have many players in Mount’s position, whatever the club or the player agrees is his position. He’s a player the Blues would not need to actively replace if he’s sold. The depth in his position means that the Blues need to offload some players to trim the squad.
This then means that Boehly will find it easiest to sell players that top clubs are interested in, hence, Mount. The last, and perhaps most important reason, is the fact that Mount has not been in good form this season, and that means whatever contract he’s been offered is offered based on hope that Mount will get back to his rich vein of form.
At the moment, the club has the leverage in contract negotiations, because Mount is not as irrepleceable as James while not been in good form, so the club is not obligated to offer Mount as much as he wants. The club also seems to want to tie Mount down to a very long deal, with eight years being reported. It is also understandable why the England forward doesn’t want to be tied down for that long.
The fans should be fair to Mount and the club. The club is well within their rights to offer Mount what they think is a fair deal compared to what he’s earning, and Mount is well within his rights to refuse a deal he feels doesn’t satisfy his interests. If Mount cannot come to an agreement with the club regarding wages and contract length, he will leave, and he shouldn’t be painted as the bad guy, but neither should the club.
How much will Chelsea earn from Mason Mount’s sale?