Mason Mount : Chelsea can always get someone better but so can Manchester United

The 24year old, who came through the ranks at the club has led a mixed time with Chelsea, but the good ones is highlighted by the club’s run to the Champions League title in 2021.

Mount, despite winning the club’s player of the year in consecutive seasons before dip in form in the concluded season was almost never out of the headline and not always for the right reasons.

The former Derby County midfielder was a culprit of costly penalty miss against Liverpool in the 2022 Emirates FA Cup final, which saw the Jurgen Klopp side emerge winner on the night in Wembley.

It was back to business as usual for one of the highest rated midfielders in the Premier League at the start of the concluded season and though he didn’t record any attacking returns in the early days, fans thought it was going to be plain sailing yet again.

Unfortunately, neither for him nor Chelsea or any other player in the group did almost anything go well for. All season long they struggled to get in their groove but they never did and went on to have unarguably the worst season in the club’s history in more than 40 years.

Mount, who was already a regular with the England national team paid with his place in Gareth Southgate’s team selection in the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup, where he started two of four games played despite the unavailability and lack of fitness of Kalvin Phillips.

In the 2021-22 Premier League campaign, Mason Mount was one of the just three players to reach double digits for goals and assists contribution, alongside Mohamed Salah and Jarrod Bowen.

Since his Chelsea debut till date, no player has scored more goals, registered more assists, made more key passes or big chances creation than the Cobham graduate.

He made himself the creator in chief of the team and led them to great heights, albeit they were unfortunate to miss out on a lot of other prizes they could have ammased along the way.

Mount came at a time when Chelsea were in dire need of someone of his kind following the departure of Eden Hazard after the 2019 Europa League final as well as the transfer ban placed on the club at the time.

He helped move on hence it is understandable why his potential departure from Chelsea this summer has caused division amongst the fans.

While some feel the club should try and reach an agreement with the midfielder to tie him down, given what he has done and being one of their own who came through the ranks. They thought it would he devastating seeing him lineup for another club.

Some other fans are not so kind and have judged the player base on his shortcomings, most especially in the concluded season. They have seen enough of him and would prefer better options to arrive in the window.

Not to defend what was a terrible season for Mount, the club and everyone of the players had a poor season by the standard. So much that not even three different managers could help salvage anything worthwhile, aside safety from relegation.

However, there have been instances where a drowning club is being held up by a single player, who plays their hearts out just to see the club thrive. Unfortunately, Mount was nowhere to be found when Chelsea needed someone of such.

With Todd Boehly looking to splash more cash on midfield acquisition for new manager Mauricio Pochettino in the soon to be opened window, incoming will so much depend on outgoing but for month, leaving is fast becoming a priority.

The emergence and rapid development of players like Cesare Casadei, Kendry Paez and Andrey Santos has also left Chelsea with lots of names to call on in the near future – so parting ways with Mount will be no loss on their part.

However, at 24, Mount could also be yet to reach the peak of his powers, and seeing him do that in no time and for a rival team just as Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne now do will hurt, even so if the so called newly emerged players ended up not fulfilling their potentials.

But selling him for £60 million won’t be a loss given how poor his season was, duration left on his contract and to also think he costed them no transfer fee.

Knowing what Mount can do when he is in the groove, Erik Ten Hag sees him as a right fit for his setup. However, what happens if Mount is unable to rediscover his best form of the past ?

Isn’t £60 millions too much for a trial ?

This should be an easy question that a simple ‘can a world class player become average overnight ?’ will justly answer but it has been evident amongst English players that the said notion can actually come to be.

Dele Alli, Theo Walcott amongst others were touted to be on their way to becoming some of the best to play in the Premier League but in the short run, they retire to being just average or less players.

Should Manchester United risk such amount on players without assurance, yet coming in on the back of a terrible season with their former club.

Not too long ago, the club has spent a lot of millions on players that has not been justified. Anthony Martial, Romelu Lukaku, Paul Pogba, Harry Maguire, Donny van de Beek and even Antony, all have or so far failed to perform up to the price tag paid to secure their services.

Mount is a very productive midfielder. In fact, since the arrival of Bruno Fernandes in January 2020, only the Portuguese and Marcus Rashford have registered more Premier League goal involvement than him of all Manchester United players.

His arrival will mean added goals and that is always a plus for a team. However, the minutes of play to get those numbers is what will bring headache, but it’s obviously not the manager’s concern as at now.

Unless Erik Ten Hag has a different approach prepared for next season, then we’ll see if there’s a role awaiting the English midfielder in Manchester United. There surely must be one since the Dutchman wants him.

United’s midfield three is made up of Casemiro, who plays the defensive midfield role while he is supported by Christian Eriksen, who drops from the right No.8 role off the ball to form a double pivot.

Bruno Fernandes, the right No.8 drops into the No.10 role to orchestrate play while also positioning himself between the opposition left center back and left full back when pressing.

And recall that the former two, Casemiro and Christian Eriksen were themselves signed by the former Ajax boss, while Bruno Fernandes has been arguably the club’s best player since joining from Sporting Lisbon in the winter window of 2020.

Mount’s direct competition at United will be Bruno Fernandes because he is more suited for that role than Eriksen’s but he is less creative compared to Fernandes, which will negatively impact the rate of chance creating actions.

Although he can also play in the Eriksen role, it would mean Casemiro playing as a single pivot, a which would lead to increase in situations where the Brazilian is exposed.

Eriksen brings more balance to the team given Bruno Fernandes’s tendency to stay upfield, replacing the Dane with Mount will upset that balance, but trust Ten Hag to know what he wants.

Manchester United love to pick out runners and play the through balls, whether long or short, they thrive well last season when they strike on the counter thanks the to precision of the passes from their midfield trio.

Be it against teams that play a high line in defense. An example was against Arsenal in Old Trafford. Their main source of attack was playing in a striker, hence they were able to punish the Mikel Arteta’s side using Marcus Rashford’s pace.

This is something Mason Mount lacks. He does not have the eyes for passes like the current option for United, and those passes were always the key to unlocking defenses.

Though he is much younger than the current options, neither does that make him better nor suitable for the platform that the club has been playing since the appointment of Ten Hag.

Mount loves to keep the ball and run with it rather than pass it most of the time as the likes of Fernandes would do. Unfortunately, he does not have much technical security to resist press, hence loses possession frequently.

At 24 and having build a good reputation for himself bar in the last season, the former Vittesse man will surely not settle for a secondary role, and it is almost inevitable that Bruno Fernandes will always be one of the first names in the United team sheet.

Who then makes way for Mount, well, Erik Ten must surely have answers.

Mount can also be deployed on either the flank, but those are positions where the club is stacked, and wouldn’t even sign a midfielder just to make him play his secondary position where they already numbers.

There are several other options, more fitting that Manchester United can go for in the window. A good offer is enough to persuade anyone to come over to one of the greatest clubs in the best league. And if Casemiro can be lured to Old Trafford from Real Madrid, then who dares so no to The Red Devils ?

No doubt that the club is short of options while some midfielders could also be moved this summer. But with the signing of Donny van de Beek, lessons should have been learnt not to sign players just for the sake of signing.

Mount has Premier League and Champions League experience and will without a doubt be a plus for any team that signs him if he can rediscover his form but signing a player for around £60 million on the hope he finds his bearing again is too risky, moreso for a club where he doesn’t appear to fit in.

Author : Kehinde Hassan Afolabi