Revealed: How Man United finally struck £60m deal with Chelsea for Mason Mount – key compromise made

At the fourth attempt, Manchester United reached an agreement with Chelsea to sign Mason Mount.

Incremental £5 million raises from an initial offer of £40 million saw Erik ten Hag’s side agree to pay £55 million plus £5 million in add-ons for the Chelsea midfielder, who has just one year remaining on his Stamford Bridge contract.

Mount will end his 18-year association with Chelsea this summer after a contract extension was unable to be agreed despite three new offers being made, with the latest coming back in February – a one-year extension.

As reported by Matt Law of the Daily Telegraph, There appears to be an acceptance in both camps that contract negotiations between Chelsea and Mount became a mess with talks breaking down more than once before the one-year extension offer was made earlier this year.

Fabrizio Romano reports Mount was not in a fight with Chelsea. He was just disappointed because he was open to remaining at the club. However, he was not so happy with how things were handled in September, October and November when negotiations began, before talks collapsed in February.

United insisted they would not budge on their third offer of £50 million plus £5 million in add-ons, which was claimed to be final, however would negotiate around the structure of the deal. Chelsea countered the Red Devils with an offer of £58 million plus £7 million in add-ons for Mount, while offering the opportunity to meet in person to resolve the matter. They also initially felt face-to-face talks weren’t required to resolve the impasse.

So how did Man United and Chelsea come to an agreement for Mount?

As revealed by Fabrizio Romano, the two clubs held face-to-face talks in the United States to resolve the saga, which both sides didn’t want to drag out into pre-season and across the rest of the summer ahead of the 2023/24 season.

Once the 24-year-old’s exit is confirmed – he will undergo a medical when he returns from his holidays – Mount will join the list of high profile exits from Chelsea.

Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly, N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic and Kai Havertz have all left the club, some for Premier League rivals, with many more departures still expected as Mauricio Pochettino oversees the squad overhaul.