Chelsea will be going into the season with a horde of their academy players getting regular minutes in the Premier League, mostly due to their transfer ban. Frank Lampard who is in charge of the Blues, likes working with youngsters. One such player who is set to jump into the limelight is Mason Mount.
Mount was on loan at Derby County last season, where he worked with Lampard. Now the duo have returned to Chelsea but this time they will be up for a tougher test in the Premier League. However, Mount’s father admits that he wanted his son to leave Chelsea five years ago. In 2014, Mount was one of the most highly-rated English talents and at 15, he had to choose between staying at the club and signing a scholarship deal or leaving Stamford Bridge permanently.
The 20-year-old midfielder opted to stay at the boyhood club but we can’t blame his father for thinking that way back then, as the Blues are not known for nurturing their youth academy stars. Chelsea boasts a great academy but most are sent out on loan multiple times until they leave the club permanently.
The Blues have not been patient with their youth products and their reckless attitude has resulted in missing out talents like Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah. They never really allowed this trio to flourish for their senior team and came to a conclusion way too quickly. Now three of them have turned out to be major stars in their respective teams, club and country.
Despite the factors, Mason Mount went against his father’s will and stuck to his task out-shined most players in the academy. Went to Vitesse and was exceptional in the Eredivisie at such tender age, he faced the difficulties of professional football and stayed in alien conditions which he isn’t used to. He still managed to perform for the Dutch side and was one of their best performers back then.
He went on to make 29 appearances in the Eredivisie and scored nine goals and also got called up for the England U-21 side. He was also named Vitesse’s Player of the year and won the Eredivisie Talent of the month in January 2018.
Mount’s father, Tony Mount: “No academy graduate had made it into the first team since John Terry, you would be “silly” to stay.
– Mason Mount replied: “Well, I’ll be the next one. He was absolutely adamant he wasn’t going to leave and that he could make it.” #CFC 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/p6SnHlmJeL
— Williams ©️ (@CFCNewsReport) August 7, 2019
“I told Mason I thought he needed to move on to get the best opportunity. No one at Chelsea’s academy has got into the first-team since John Terry — what chance have you got? Mason shot back, ‘I will be the next one. I am not leaving Chelsea, it is my club. I have been here since the age of six and I am going all the way.”, Tony [Mason’s father] told The Sun.
The new Blues’ boss has shown tremendous trust on the 20-year old for the upcoming season and until now Mount has had a great pre-season. The reason Lampard believes in him is that the duo worked together at Derby County last season at the Championship, where the midfielder made 35 appearances and scored eight goals. To add to that he adds to the dynamic approach which Chelsea needs this season.
