Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino addresses Mason Mount’s move to Manchester United

Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has stressed that he needs players who are ‘committed’ to the club following Mason Mount’s £60 million move to Manchester United.

Pochettino, 51, is preparing for his first campaign at Stamford Bridge after both Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter were sacked last term.

Mount, 24, has been one of their star players since his emergence into the first-team in 2019/20 but has moved onto pastures new at Old Trafford this summer after 18 years at the club.

The new Chelsea boss wanted to keep Mount, according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, however the midfielder believes that United is the ‘right’ move for him at this time in his career.

Speaking in his first press conference as Blues manager, Pochettino stressed that he does not want to speak about Mount but hinted that whilst the player loved the club, he was not ‘committed’ to Chelsea.

“We cannot talk (about that),” said Pochettino when asked about the departed player, as transcribed by Absolute Chelsea. “When I was talking about the future, it’s to talk about the players who are here and the players who we can maybe add to the squad. He’s a Manchester United player now.

“For sure, he loved the club. But I don’t know what happened in the past.

“I don’t want to talk about that. We need to be focused now on what we expect from our players, the players who are really committed to the club to move on and try to build a very nice story and try to provide a team and club that wins trophies.”

Mount joined up with his new teammates on the opening day of United’s pre-season training on Thursday as he prepares to make his unofficial debut for the club next Wednesday against Leeds United.

United’s new no.7 explained the importance of pre-season in his first interview with club media as he pushed for the move to be completed before United began training.

“Pre-season is huge,” he said. “It gets you in the right shape going into the season. The most important thing for me was getting there and being ready on day one and being able to meet all the players and the manager to get to working because we have a big season ahead.

“You love it and you hate it at the same time,” added Mount when asked about the running involved in the build-up to the campaign. “I’ve heard a little bit about the first couple of weeks of training and it’s going to be tough but that’s what it’s all about. We need to work and get into great shape.”