Mount’s got The Blues

THREE LIONS STAR ADMITS CHELSEA SITUATION IS WORRYING Prem ivorianS LooK to LiGHt uP WemBLey

THERE will be some familiar faces at Wembley as Ivory Coast meet England for the first time.

Patrice Beaumelle’s side will make their long-awaited bow at the famous stadium on Tuesday night.

And, considering in the past the twice Africa Cup of Nations champions have had stars such as Didier Drogba, Yaya Toure, Kolo Toure and Didier Zokora in their team and risen as high as 12th in the FIFA rankings, it is a surprise they have had to wait this long for an encounter with the Three Lions.

Sadly for the football-mad country, there will be no trip to Qatar, with Les Elephants failing to qualify, and now the focus is on hosting a successful Africa Cup of Nations next year, complete with a healthy contingent of Premier League players.

There is Crystal Palace’s exciting forward Wilfried Zaha (right), who switched his allegiance from England,

Manchester United’s Eric Bailly, Arsenal’s £72million man Nicolas Pepe, Wolves defender Willy Boly, Watford’s Hassane Kamara and Burnley’s Maxwel Cornet.

In addition, there will be much interest in AC Milan midfielder Franck Kessie, who has disappointed a number of Premier League clubs by agreeing to join

Barcelona in the summer.

It is also an opportunity for Sebastien Haller to show what West Ham missed out on, with the striker having resurrected his career at Ajax.

Frenchman Beaumelle took over as Ivory Coast manager in November 2020 after being assistant to Herve Renard for six years.

He admitted: “When you are the coach of the Ivory Coast, you know there is an expectation to succeed at the highest level because of what has gone before us.

“There is no denying that we are in the shade of Didier Drogba, Yaya Toure and the great players of the past.

“But there is a good team spirit and I believe there is a bright future ahead of us.”

Beaumelle has also persuaded players who have dual French and Ivorian nationality to commit to his squad rather than Les Bleus. “When I started in the job two years ago, I spoke to Willy Boly and Sebastien Haller about coming to play for us and they joined,” he said.

“It was the same with Hassane Kamara as well.

“But I only want players who are really committed.

“There is a real togetherness about playing for Ivory Coast.

“Yaya Toure won everything at club level, but the biggest thing for him was winning the Africa Cup of Nations.”

And Clarets star Cornet added: “It’s great to play for the country, the

Ivory Coast fans are tremendous.

“There is always a really good atmosphere surrounding them.”

MASON MOUNT admits that Chelsea’s players have been kept in the dark about the crisis at Stamford Bridge following Roman Abramovich’s decision to sell the club.

Mount says football has given Thomas Tuchel and his squad some welcome relief from the political machinations that have plunged the world and European champions into turmoil after their oligarch owner was sanctioned by the Government following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Abramovich announced his intention to put Chelsea on the market before Downing Street froze his UK assets – and the bidding has been allowed to continue.

But Mount has been keeping abreast of developments in the media from the heart of the England camp during the week – and he says his team-mates are doing the same.

He said: “I’ve been at the club since I was a six-year-old and something like this has not happened before, so it can be a concern. At the beginning and even now we don’t really know where it’s going and what’s happening the next day, so it’s difficult. But we focus on our football and what we can do is try and win as many games as we can.

“Obviously, I’m away with England, so that stuff is kind of parked and I’m focusing on England duty and what I can do while I’m away.

“And then, when I go back to Chelsea next week, I’m sure we will be informed about what’s going on because I haven’t heard anything recently.”

Mount is still only 23, despite playing more than 200 games at senior level, winning some of the game’s biggest honours and helping England reach the final of last summer’s Euros.

But he spoke with a maturity beyond his years when asked about the situation at Chelsea and how modern players have been plunged into the political arena in recent times.

Three Lions captain Harry Kane (above) announced that Gareth Southgate and his players have spoken about human rights concerns in the build-up to the winter World Cup in Qatar.

And Mount believes footballers should be prepared to offer their views on world events. He said: “I definitely think in this modern day, even if you are a young footballer, to be able to speak about things that are going on in the world is part of what we do.

“I mean, you look at the squad and how young we are and what we’ve done over the last couple of years to show how we feel about things that have happened away from football.

“We’re together in it and every decision we make, we speak about.

“As far as the situation that is going on is concerned, we try to use our platform to make a change – and that’s something we’ll continue to do and something we’re very proud of as a group.

“We want to help the world to make a change and sometimes that’s what we have to focus on.”

Tuchel has protected his Chelsea players with the dignified way he has handled questions about the war in Ukraine and the sanctions on Abramovich that have hit the London club financially.

The Blues have stretched their unbeaten run to 14 games in all competitions.

And Mount added: “There are so many games to play that we have to focus on what’s happening on the pitch.”