Manchester United have not walked away from the negotiating table over Mason Mount despite seeing a third bid rejected for the Chelsea midfielder, 90min understands.
United saw their latest offer of £50m plus £5m in add-ons rejected by Chelsea on Friday and had previously threatened to walk away if their bid was not accepted, with club officials thought to be wary of another prolonged transfer saga.
However, sources have confirmed to 90min lines of communication remain open between the two sides, whose valuations of Mount are close but, crucially, fall on opposite sides of the £60m mark.
United are adamant they will not pay over the odds for Mount and believe Chelsea‘s demands are unreasonable for a player who has just one year remaining on his contract.
On the other side of the table, Chelsea have dropped their £70m asking price and countered United’s offer with a proposal of £58m plus a further £7m – a £65m package in total.
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The two sides are currently £10m apart in valuation and neither is currently showing signs of budging, but United believe a deal can still be agreed and have not yet turned away.
However, with an agreement far from certain at this point, United are exploring possible alternatives and are known admirers of Juventus’ Adrien Rabiot. The Frenchman is available on a free transfer this summer but could still end up staying in Turin, although a number of sides are thought to be keen to lure him away.
Chelsea are prepared to cash in on Mount, whose sale would clearly go a long way to help balance their books, but only for the right price. The Blues have seen their finances strengthened already this month after agreeing deals to part ways with a number of first-team players.
Kai Havertz is on the cusp of a £65m move to Arsenal and Mateo Kovacic will soon join Manchester City for up to £30m, while Kalidou Koulibaly, Edouard Mendy and Hakim Ziyech will all move to Saudi Arabia in the coming days for around £40m combined.
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On this week’s edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Toby Cudworth is joined by Graeme Bailey and Sean Walsh to discuss the latest transfer news. On the agenda is Arsenal’s approach for Jurrien Timber, Kai Havertz and Declan Rice, the exodus of Chelsea players to Saudi Arabia, Moises Caicedo, Kyle Walker, Man Utd’s goalkeeper plans & more!
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