Chelsea keen to complete deal for the perfect Mason Mount solution to ongoing transfer problem.

 Chelsea keen to complete deal for the perfect Mason Mount solution to ongoing transfer problem.

Mason Mount has set the level of expected performance at Chelsea since the beginning of the 2019/20 season. His consistency, his output, his mentality and his energy have made him an undroppable presence during some rocky periods.

The fact he was voted as the club's player of the season for the second year running proved as much at the end of an exhausting 63-game slog.

He played the pass that helped win Chelsea the European Cup, he became the youngest player in the club's history to score in four consecutive games and he ended the 2021/22 season as the Blues top league scorer.

Whilst the academy graduate's emergence has been a joyous story for supporters to witness, the lack of consistency to match him has proved an issue for Thomas Tuchel. At the beginning of last season, there was a challenge for the rest of Chelsea's attackers to step up and prove they could become as trusted.

In reflection, few of them did so across the next nine months. The fact the £97m signing from 2021 Romelu Lukaku has been sent back to Inter Milan on loan says as much. And rumours continue to swirl around more departures this window.

But maybe the responsibility on Mount's shoulders could be lessened with a new addition in Raphinha from Leeds. Although a transfer for the Leeds winger is yet to be finalised, Chelsea appear to have beaten Premier League rival Arsenal to his signature - although Barcelona could yet have a say in the matter - with Todd Boehly hoping to agree personal terms with the 25-year-old.