Mason Mount admits Chelsea stars have found it ‘hard to focus’ due to sanctions on Roman Abramovich

Midfielder Mason Mount has admitted that Chelsea’s players have found it impossible to avoid being affected by the turmoil facing the club following owner Roman Abramovich’s sanctioning by the UK government.

Chelsea can no longer sell matchday tickets or merchandise during the sanctions, while their away day spending has also been capped and shirt sponsor Three have asked to suspend their deal with the Champions League contenders.

Mount set up Trevoh Chalobah’s third-minute opener and scored himself 11 minutes later as third-placed Chelsea won 3-1 at Norwich in the Premier League on Thursday.  

The comfortable victory was a welcome relief for the Blues amid turmoil for them off the pitch

The England mainstay conceded: ‘It’s not been easy, of course. We see what’s happening behind the scenes and everything that’s going on – it can be hard to focus.

‘With everything that’s happening off the pitch, for us to stay focused and stay on the ball to win this game, I thought we were brilliant. We just need to focus on what we can do on the pitch – that’s our only goal.’ 

Abramovich has been punished because of his ties to Vladimir Putin amid the Russian president’s decision to invade Ukraine last month. 

Mount told BBC Sport: ‘You can’t really avoid it as there’s a lot going on. We have to focus on what we do on the pitch.

Russian owner Roman Abramovich has been sanctioned, plunging Chelsea’s future into doubt

‘We had a game today and that was the only thing we could focus on. We did that today so now it’s about Sunday. You try not to look too much into it.’  

‘Most important is the win. For me personally, to score – it feels good. The more numbers I get, the happier I am and I’m obviously happy with the win, too.

‘The last three times I’ve played here I’ve scored so it’s been good. I really enjoyed it today. I got the goal early on so it made me relaxed. It’s been a good stadium for me to play.’

Chelsea are seven points behind Liverpool and eight clear of fourth-placed Arsenal, although the Gunners have two games in hand on Thomas Tuchel’s side, who host Newcastle on Sunday. 

Mount said: ‘There are teams pushing. I don’t know how many games have been played but they’re coming and we have to stay focused to keep going up.

‘It might be difficult to get second but that’s our goal and we need to keep pushing for that.’