Having secured the long-term future of Reece James, Chelsea have now turned their attention to fellow England international and academy graduate Mason Mount.
James has recently signed a new six year deal worth £250,000 a week, making him the highest paid defender at Stamford Bridge.
Now, despite the managerial upheaval at the club, the focus has shifted to Mount, who is one of the lowest paid first-team players under Thomas Tuchel, reflecting that his last contract was signed back in 2019, when he was on loan with Derby County in the Championship.
Although that contract still has two years until it expires, the club do not want to let it run down any further, knowing that they could be vulnerable to an approach by another club next summer.
They are also keen to ensure that he is paid commensurate with his value to the squad.
The club is also keen to learn from the mistakes of last season which saw a number of key layers run down their contracts, partly precipitating the massive transfer spending that followed.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.