Mason Mount and Raheem Sterling were in conversation during England's Nations League camp this week amid the Manchester City star's links to Chelsea.
Sterling has been linked with a move away from the Etihad Stadium this summer with Chelsea weighing up a bid for the 27-year-old. Real Madrid have shown interest, while Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur have both been attributed with previous interest however Sterling is believed to not want to head to north London.
An offer from Chelsea would attract the England international but he has yet to indicate whether or not his future is at Manchester City ahead of his contract expiring next summer. Top clubs across Europe have a 'growing feeling' he wants to leave with Chelsea showing the 'greatest interest' among Premier League clubs.
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The Manchester City winger is currently away on international duty with England for their Nations League matches before he heads away for his post-season break ahead of the 2022/23 season.
And he has been pictured next to Chelsea star Mason Mount, with the pair appearing to be having a laugh together while doing their stretches. Mount's all smiles while Sterling looks back in a confused manner.
With Chelsea considering a move, Mount could be looked at along with teammate Reece James to play an agent type role to convince him of a summer switch to Stamford Bridge.
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Antonio Rudiger took the crowd of 'Agent Rudi' in the summer of 2020 when Kai Havertz and Timo Werner both left Germany for Chelsea.
No decision has been made on Sterling's future yet, with it being previously reported that he would wait until after the Nations League camp before holding talks and making a call over whether or not he quits Pep Guardiola's side.
Sterling is among several attacking options for Chelsea this summer, with teammate Gabriel Jesus also of interest amid claims he has been offered to the Blues. Christopher Nkunku and Ousmane Dembele are also on the shortlist with Tuchel set to be given £200m and full control in the summer transfer window.
The Chelsea head coach has already sent a warning to his current forwards, three of whom - Werner, Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic - they are willing to listen to offers for, over making a potential addition in the attacking line.
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He said: “If we stick to the group then we will try to solve it with these players. Is it necessary to bring more offensive players around the box to create more distractions, to create more space for each other? We will ask that question. Can we do better in the structure? Can we push the players more? Did we rotate too much? Let’s see.
"There are a lot of options. The numbers we produce from our offensive players don’t allow us to over-perform and we need over-performance if we want to be nearer to the top two teams. I am not pointing fingers, I am not blaming anybody, but we need over-performance from everybody. It’s not over-performance if we have only single figures in scoring and assisting."
Topics: Chelsea, England, Manchester City, Mason Mount, Raheem Sterling, Football, Premier League
Matthew Debono