Mason Mount has signed a new five-year contract ahead of travelling with the squad on our pre-season trip to Japan.

After an impressive 2018/19 season on loan at Derby County, where the midfielder played under current Blues head coach Frank Lampard, Mount has now committed his future to Chelsea by signing a deal to stay at Stamford Bridge until at least 2024.The England Under-21 international helped the Rams reach the Championship play-off final last season and impressed in our win over St Patrick’s Athletic at the weekend, scoring our opener in a 4-0 win. He will today join the rest of the squad for the trip to Japan, where we face Kawasaki Frontale and Barcelona.

On signing his new deal, 20-year-old Mount said: ‘It’s a massively proud moment for myself and my family. I joined this club at six years old and it was always my goal to play for the first team one day. I’m really looking forward to the coming season now and working hard to have an impact here at Chelsea. I’ve been at the club for a long time already and hopefully I’ll stay for a long time to come.’Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia added: ‘Mason has come right the way through the Chelsea Academy and has always stood out as a fantastic talent and dedicated individual. We have monitored his development extremely closely while he has been out on loan and believe he is now ready to be a member of our squad competing at the top of the Premier League.‘Like another of our Academy graduates, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, we are delighted Mason has committed himself to the club this summer and look forward to an exciting future ahead.’

Mount has been at Chelsea since he was six and signed at the Under-8 age group. An attack-minded midfielder, he is a strong box-to-box runner with the ability to score from long range.Success has been no stranger to Mount and he has twice lifted the FA Youth Cup with the Blues, in 2016 and 2017, and was captain for the latter. He has also helped us win the UEFA Youth League in 2016.The midfielder's eye-catching displays earned him plenty of admirers and he rounded off an impressive 2016/17 campaign by setting up the winner in the final as England won the Under-19 European Championship.

Mount has gained valuable experience in the two loan spells he has taken in over the past two seasons. He moved to Vitesse Arnhem on loan for the 2017/18 campaign and enjoyed a year to remember in Holland. His 14 goals were integral in helping Vitesse qualify for the Europa League, and he featured impressively in that competition early in the campaign, too. Deployed either in central midfield or a no.10 role, Mount's creativity and finishing ability stood out to such an extent he was named Vitesse's Player of the Year. He finished the season by training with the England senior squad ahead of the World Cup.In July 2018, he moved on loan to Championship side Derby County, managed by Lampard and his former youth team boss Jody Morris, helping the Rams go within 90 minutes of earning promotion to the Premier League.In total, he made 44 appearances in all competitions for Derby and scored 11 goals. During his time at Pride Park, Mount’s impressive displays for the Rams saw him earn his first call-up to the senior England squad in October 2018, for Nations League fixtures against Spain and Croatia.