THOMAS TUCHEL is ready to raid former club Chelsea for Mason Mount.
Tuchel is back in work with German giants Bayern Munich after being sacked by the Blues in September.
He has only been in the job for a few days and wants at least three or four matches to properly size up his new squad before drawing up transfer plans for the summer.
But Tuchel is a huge fan of unsettled Mount who is in a contract stand off at Stamford Bridge.
And there are already early suggestions the six-times European champions will approach Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly about striking a deal in the summer.
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There has been no contact whatsoever between the two parties so far.
Tuchel replaced Julian Nagelsmann last Friday with Bayern second in the Bundesliga - one point adrift of leaders Borussia Dortmund.
Mount, 24, was one his favourite players during the German’s 18 months at Stamford Bridge.
The player has just over a year left on his current contract and talks have stalled over a new one.
Mount is recovering from a groin injury at present but is hoping to be fit for Saturday’s Premier League home clash with Aston Villa.
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At the moment he wants to shelve any distractions from getting back into the team and playing as many games as possible for Chelsea in the remaining two months of the season.
Tuchel dropped him from his first game in charge as Chelsea boss in January 2021 but came off the bench with seven minutes to go and never looked back.
He went on to play in six different positions under the manager and supplied the assist for team-mate Kai Havertz to win the Champions League for a second time for Chelsea in the 2021 final against Manchester City.
Mount has been with Chelsea since he was six years old but with negotiations about a new deal struggling, rival clubs are circling.
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He has already been linked with Premier League rivals Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal.
Bayern Munich join Italians Juventus as a queue of European titans starts to form with time ticking away on Mount’s deal which expires in June 2024.
If there is no resolution, Chelsea may well prefer to sell him to a foreign club rather than a fellow English team to avoid facing him in the Premier League.
