Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has rubbished claims that Mason Mount is unhappy about Chelsea’s £70m signing of Kai Havertz.
According to reports in Germany, Mount is unhappy about the increased competition at the club after the arrivals of Havertz and Ziyech.
But addressing the rumours, Lampard said: ‘I saw the story about Mason Mount and I know it was an absolute fabricated from somebody, particularly if it came from the German end.
‘I’m not sure if he has any relatives out there or friends he would talk to, it’s a strange angle for that to come from Mason.
The new Chelsea players do represent a challenge for the club’s academy graduates Mount, Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori, Hudson-Odoi and Reece James.
But Frank Lampard has told them it is part and parcel of being at a big club like Chelsea and wants the players to embrace it.
Lampard said: “The way football is at a club like Chelsea, if you are a young player who has got a foot in and then the club brings in players around you that raise levels, the players should and hopefully will raise their levels and everybody improves.
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“I will be fair when I pick the team. I do not pick the team on whether you came through the academy or not, I pick the team on how I think it should be picked on how they train and how we have been performing.”
The Chelsea boss also said Tomori is in contention to face Brighton on Monday, despite the strong interest from Everton in a loan move for the player.
Lampard said: “Fikayo trained with us on Thursday and is in contention for the Brighton game. There is nothing specific that I want him to improve. I just want him to show the work ethic he showed me at Derby and for major parts of last season.
“He knows, and I hope every player knows, that at that point I am fair about how I pick the team. With our centre-backs, it is up to them to try and make the place their own. And they are just the roles at a club like Chelsea.”
