In the embargoed section of the press conference this afternoon, Frank Lampard was asked about Mason Mount’s contract situation.
The Chelsea boss had earlier announced Mount was injured and likely to miss the end of the season. Given he’s in a contract standoff with the club, this could mean he is sold in the summer.
Lampard was asked what he made of the issue and whether he would like to give Mount a new deal, and explained that he was powerless, that the resolution had to come from the two parties involved, but also that his ideal situation was certainly that the midfielder stay:
“At this point, it’s not my opinion that will be the resolution. It will be the opinion of the club and the opinion of Mason, so that’s between them,” Lampard said in quotes picked up by the Evening Standard.
“I think my opinion’s pretty clear, I don’t need to spell it out what I think of Mason as a player. There’s no doubt Mason is a top-class player through what he brings to the team in and out of possession.
“We could have done with him in the games we’ve played already this season. But the bigger picture is something that’s going to become clearer in the next weeks and months, and that will be the club and Mason together having conversations.”
Lampard gave Mount his break in English football when he took him on loan to Derby and then brought him to Chelsea a year later. Mount has been in the team ever since, and clearly the caretaker wants to see him remain even after he goes.
