Mason Mount has warned his Chelsea team-mates not to solely focus on Erling Haaland when the Blues host Manchester City on Thursday night.
Mason Mount has registered three goals and two assists in the top-flight this term (Picture: Getty)
Haaland joined City this summer and has scored an incredible 21 goals across his opening 15 Premier League games.
He has scored more top-flight goals than the entire Chelsea squad put together so far this season, with the Blues having scored just 20 times.
The west London are all the way down in 10th in the table after enduring an abysmal 2022-23 campaign so far.
Chelsea are still in a period of transition, having changed owners in the summer with Todd Boehly spending around £280m on new players.
American businessman Boehly also sacked head coach Thomas Tuchel in September, replacing him with Graham Potter.
City, meanwhile, are second in the league and have 11 more points than Chelsea.
Pep Guardiola’s side have won four of the last five Premier League titles but are currently eight points behind leaders Arsenal with a game in hand.
Speaking ahead of Thursday’s clash between Chelsea and City, Mount was quizzed about Haaland and told Sky Sports: ‘He’s a very good player.
‘We’ve obviously seen what he’s been doing in the league this season. It’s going to be tough.
‘We’re going to have to come together as a team, and it’s going to have to be the full XI to really stop them.
‘It’s not just him – they have many good players. I feel like going into a game like this, you have to be aware of a player like that, but not solely focus on him.
‘We know he can be dangerous along with other [Man City] players so it’s going to be a tough game, it’s going to be an exciting game, these are the games that you want to play in.
‘They are pressured games that we need to dig in and get a good result.’
Asked if Haaland was one of the best forwards in world football at the moment, Mount added: ‘Strikers? Yeah.
‘I don’t think there’s probably anyone scoring as many goals as him right now or performing the way he is, so he has to be up there, yeah.’
[DON’T MISS] Benfica name the one condition Chelsea need to meet in order to sign Enzo Fernandez
Chelsea are working behind the scenes to bring Benfica’s Enzo Fernandez to Stamford Bridge but they will need to meet one condition in order to make that happen.
According to Portuguese outlet Record, Benfica are refusing to sell Fernandez to Chelsea unless his full £106m release clause is paid upfront.
Following a meeting between both parties today, Fabrizio Romano has stated that there is still no agreement in place for the sale of the Argentina international to the Premier League club with many key details yet to be ironed out.
The biggest of which is how the payments of the €120m fee to the Portuguese club will be structured and the aforementioned release clause.
According to Argentina’s TyC Sports, Chelsea already have a contractual agreement in place with Fernandez who has agreed personal terms and a salary package ahead of a potential move to Stamford Bridge.
The transfer of the World Cup winner is set to cost the Blues a massive €120m, with the Premier League giants willing to pay the fee in order to get the jump on the other interested parties.
Fernandez caught the attention of many of Europe’s biggest clubs with his performances at the World Cup and should Chelsea fail to meet Benfica’s demands, they run the risk of another one of Europe’s giants coming in and hijacking the midfield star.
SOURCE: metro.co.uk, caughtoffside.com
