Lampard sets Mount record straight; reveals plan for Havertz

Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has set their record straight over a “fabricated” story concerning Mason Mount.

The Blues confirmed the signing of Kai Havertz from Bayer Leverkusen on Friday in a £71m deal and soon after talk of Mount’s unhappiness emerged.

In fact by Sunday respected Sport Bild journalist Christian Falk had tweeted that Mount was “unhappy”.

The basis of that was that Havertz had been signed for big money and was expected to rival Mount for a place in Lampard’s starting XI.

Mount’s father seemingly dismissed the talk with a series of laughing and poo emojis in a tweet he sent last weekend.

Asked about the story on Thursday at Cobham, Lampard claimed it was “a strange angle”.

“I saw the story about Mount, I know it was fabricated by someone. It was a strange angle,” said Lampard.

“I know that with the young players in the team and players come in then the players should and hopefully will raise their levels. I will pick the team on how they perform every week. Everyone should be positive.”

Speaking about Havertz, Lampard confirmed the Germany international will be a versatile member of the squad.

Lampard added: “He is flexible to play in every position. We can use the versatility. He is very happy to help the team, not asking to play in certain positions.”

Lampard’s side will tackle Brighton at The Amex on Monday and they will be without Hakim Ziyech.

“Of course we want to start well, but they are a good team. We have had a non pre-season. It has been challenging, but we have to be ready,” said the Blues boss.

Injury news

“Ziyech took an injury against Brighton and he won’t be fit, we hope it will only be a couple of weeks. Chilwell won’t be fit. He has improved this week. Silva is in London but not training until the weekend, so I doubt in contention.

Asked about Christian Pulisic and Cesar Azpilicueta, he added: “I am certainly very happy to have them both back. They have trained since yesterday and in contention for Monday. They seem over those injuries.

“We are pretty good apart from that. Gilmour is a long-term injury.”