Chelsea’s new ownership promised disruption when they arrived, and they’ve certainly shaken up a lot of the norms of top level European football, from their long contracts to their tactics in the media.
It’s that aspect of things which has annoyed Manchester United, according to Samuel Luckhurst’s piece in the Manchester Evening News today. He claims that United are “unhappy” with the way that Chelsea have given briefings to London-based journalists about every individual United bid that has come in for Mason Mount.
Clearly Chelsea’s ownership want to show what a strong fight they’re putting up to get a huge fee for the midfielder – but United don’t like having their dirty laundry on display.
United football director John Murtough has “taken a dim view” of the way that Todd Boehly and co. are playing this.
Regardless, the two parties have come very close to one another on price (as we know from these very handy briefings) so for all of their grumpiness, a deal will still likely happen sooner rather than later. It’s hard to see Man U walking away from a player they want so much over a point of principle.
