Mason Mount may still sign a new deal with Chelsea (Picture: Getty Images)
Mason Mount has all the makings of a summer transfer saga with several of Chelsea’s biggest Premier League rivals reportedly sniffing around the midfielder.
The England playmaker has only a year to run on his Blues contract and has been heavily linked with a move to Liverpool, while Arsenal and Manchester United are also said to be keen to enter the fray.
With three of the biggest clubs in England keen to sign Mount, you start to wonder why his current employer would let him leave Stamford Bridge at all.
Well, we’re saying they won’t, and will be taking the 15/8 offered by bet365 that the 24-year-old signs a new deal and is still at Chelsea next season.
Good news for Chelsea fans, then, but old rivals West Ham will not be so lucky. Mount’s good mate Declan Rice is also expected to be on the move this summer and we’ll take the 7/5 on offer from BetUK that the Rolls Royce midfielder heads to Arsenal.
Declan Rice is poised to leave West ham for Arsenal (Picture: Getty Images)
Meanwhile on the dog track, Romeo Magico, Swords Rex and Fromposttopillar are all strong contenders to win this year’s £175,000 jackpot at the Greyhound Derby.
But trends in a sport where a hundredth of a second can makes the difference between success and failure indicate none of the fancied racers will win this year’s title.
The first-round heats start at Towcester this week with 180 hopefuls drawn to launch their campaigns on Thursday, Friday or Saturday.
Those who fail to cover the 500metres track in under 29.60 seconds face early elimination.
Swords Rex and Fromposttopillar enter the turbo-charged competition as 9/1 co-favourites with bookmakers StarSports, who are also sponsors.
But that’s a red flag for punters as only six favourites have won the Derby since 2000 and the last to do so was when Jaytee Jet triumphed in 2016.
Meanwhile, Romeo Magico is bidding to become only the fifth dog since the competition was first staged in 1927 to win consecutive titles, joining the legendary Mick the Miller, Patricia’s Hope, Rapid Ranger and most recently Westmead Hawk in 2005 and 2006.
Graham Holland will have the Irish raider fired up but he faces a sporting Mount Everest.
The former Portsmouth, Poole, Oxford and Hove trainer, now based in Tipperary, is sending over a strong team though and two of them have the quality to succeed.
Clona Duke defied the odds when winning last year’s Juvenile Derby final as a 20/1 outsider and there’s plenty of improvement on the cards as he has only just turned two.
He’s 14/1 with Betway while kennelmate Jacktavern Bella, a keen sort with bags of success to her credit, is 66/1 with StarSports.
She’s also worth taking at 9/2 with the same firm to be the bitch to go deepest in the competition.
Liam Dowling’s Ballymac Finn was second in last year’s Irish Derby and reached the finals of the Easter Cup at Shelbourne Park and the Kingdom Cup in Tralee. He’s is available at 20/1 with Ladbrokes and Coral.
Our final each-way, with firms paying out if racers reach the decider, is Paul Young’s Romford runner Bombay the Best, who has shown early pace from the Towcester traps in trials and is 66/1 with StarSports.
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Why would the Blues let him leave?
