by Mason Mount is at the center of a dispute between England and Chelsea with Graham Potter admitting he was surprised to see the midfielder named in Gareth Southgate’s squad.
Both England and Chelsea are keen to avoid a dispute over the matter, having worked closely on the omission of Raheem Sterling due to injury, but clarity will be sought on how Mount was chosen by England only to have the head coach of the Blues, Potter, you’ll discard it less than 24 hours later.
Chelsea dropped Mount from the England squad for the European Championship qualifiers against Italy and Ukraine the day after it was announced, and Potter confirmed the club is ready to investigate the matter.
Potter insists that Mount was never available for Southgate selection, and Chelsea privately insisted that England were aware of Mount’s ongoing pelvic injury before the squad was named.
Southgate is understood to have chosen Mount in good faith in the belief that he would at least have a chance of being available and England have a policy of never choosing players they know are injured.
Making the situation even more confusing is the fact that another Chelsea player, Sterling, was omitted from the England squad on the club’s advice and both sides were quick to emphasize that his omission had been fitness related.
Mount had hoped to join the England squad but Chelsea doctors want to give him more time to fully recover from a pelvic injury that has been worrying him and the 24-year-old has also been ruled out of Premier League play. against Everton on Saturday night.
Chelsea’s medical staff have undergone major changes since the acquisition of Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital, and the club has also restructured its recruiting and sporting structure.
Asked if Mount has suffered a setback to his recovery since the England team announcement, Potter said: “I’m not aware. It has never been available that I know of.”
When Potter was asked whether or not he had been surprised to see Mount named in the England squad, he replied: “Yes.”
Confirming that Chelsea will seek clarity on the matter, Potter added: “Probably, as a club we will. I don’t have all the contacts for all the doctors, so it’s not like I’m up to it. [speed] in everything here. But as far as I knew, he wasn’t going to be available to us for the weekend. He needed some time for his injury to settle down, which pretty much ruled him out of England.
“Whether that means they needed a bit of time to verify that, I don’t know. But I don’t think there is anything wrong at all, what’s more, sometimes these things can be named, but there are still a couple of days when things can be changed. But as far as I know, from my selection perspective, he was not available for the weekend.
England manager Southgate must now decide whether or not to call a replacement for Mount, with James Ward-Prowse and Morgan Gibbs-White among those who could be considered.
Chelsea are not risking the fitness of their players with big games to come after the international break, including a Champions League quarter-final tie against Real Madrid.
Potter attended a Chelsea fan event on Thursday night where he said: “We’ll take the draw and then try to win the f—— Champions League.”
Asked if he would stand by the comment after Chelsea drew Madrid in the last eight and then Manchester City or Bayern Munich if they progress to the semi-finals, Potter said: “I said we would try beep win the champions league. That’s the same for each of the other seven clubs. They will also say that they could lose in the quarter-finals because that is the nature of the Champions League. We will focus on Real Madrid when we get there. At the moment, it is Everton.
“The feeling is one of illusion but, as I said, I prefer to talk about Everton because that is the next game. The rest is far away.
Potter confirmed that N’Golo Kanté could return to Chelsea’s squad for the first time since August against Everton.
