Frank Lampard has conceded Chelsea are losing their battle to keep Mason Mount with Manchester United now leading the race to sign the player.
Mount’s future at the club looks increasingly uncertain with his current deal set to expire next summer.
Arsenal and Liverpool are both interested in signing the England midfielder but United have made him a top summer target, ready to sub,it a £55m offer for the 24-year-old.
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Mount is said to be leaning towards a move to Old Trafford although United’s imminent offer is expected to fall short of Chelsea’s £85m asking price.
Discussing Mount’s future ahead of United kick-off, Lampard said modern footballers are no longer expected to remain at one club for the peak years of their careers and claims Mount is likely to fall into that category.
Lampard told Sky Sports: ‘It is a difficult situation. ‘From working with Mason, and not just Mason but there are other players, they have either gone onto become really important players for the club with a real relationship with fans because they really feel the club.
‘Some of them have gone on and moved onto other clubs and the club have done well out of that.
‘With Mason particularly as an individual, I don’t know what the solution is going to be because it is a club and Mason issue.
‘I don’t know where Mason is at personally, he has a year left on his contract. I know he is held in a high regard at the club and I know they are trying to do what they can to make him stay.
‘But also with Mason, I would never want to stand here and talk in the modern day and say what a player should do because they will see it all from their own eyes, about what is going on, what the future is for them.
‘In the old days is was, why are you leaving the club? In the modern day, players move on.
‘It is a shame but maybe we have got into this situation where that is maybe what’s happening now.’
