What has happened to Mason Mount? From Chelsea and England star to forgotten man | OneFootball

In 2021, Mason Mount stood by the side of the Estadio do Dragao pitch with his father, tearfully taking in the fact that he was a Champions League winner with the club he joined at the age of six.

Earlier that night, he had played Kai Havertz through to score Chelsea’s only goal of the game to beat Manchester City and secure the club’s second UCL trophy.

But that must feel like a distant memory for Mount, who is now at Manchester United and has dropped completely out of England manager Gareth Southgate’s consideration ahead of Euro 2024.

Mount’s current situation seemed unlikely when he played Havertz through to collect his 11th assist of the campaign having also scored nine goals throughout the season, but he now is a long way away from Southgate’s squad.

At 22, Southgate called him up to play in his first international competition and he headed to the Euros in 2021 as one of England’s most promising midfielders.

But he wasn’t just one for the future. He was consistently relied upon by every manager he had worked under at that point.

At Derby, Frank Lampard gave him a chance, and when he returned from his loan from the Midlands club, he reunited with Lampard who was named as the new Blues boss.

The Blues’ record goal-scorer was thrown into a situation where the club had a transfer ban, meaning a reliance on young players was needed and Mount was quickly trusted by his idol.

In his breakthrough season, the midfielder helped Chelsea secure an unlikely Champions League spot and also reach the FA Cup final, which ended in a 2-1 defeat to Arsenal.

It was a difficult end to the 2019/20 season for Chelsea, but with Mount, Tammy Abraham, Reece James, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Fikayo Tomori it felt like the Blues had a core of homegrown players who could lead the way, although their pathways to becoming first-team regulars was slightly obstructed with the transfer ban being lifted and Chelsea making up for lost time by spending nearly £250 million.

Tomori departed in January of 2021, Hudson-Odoi and Abraham struggled to get consistent game time under both Lampard and then Thomas Tuchel, and James and Mount remained the only regulars from the Cobham cohort.

With each passing season, the English midfielder continued to be a creative force for Chelsea and England and was also a valuable asset off the ball, with a constant energetic presence allowing Tuchel to implement his tactics more effectively.

It was in this campaign that he won the Champions League, was named Chelsea’s Player of the Year and got called up to the England squad. but similarly to his maiden season in west London, Wembley was a setting of pain rather than joy.

He lost another FA Cup final to Leicester this time and suffered an even more devastating final defeat to Italy in the Euros.

He was a key figure for Southgate’s side, starting five of the seven games on the way to the final, and despite the penalty shootout loss, it seemed like this would only be the start of Mount being a key figure for England and Chelsea.

In 2021, Southgate said: “He is an exceptional player, he finds space intelligently, he creates chances, he scores goals.”

Mount backed those claims up by becoming only the fifth player in Chelsea’s history to get over 10 goals and assists in a single Premier League season, joining the likes of Eden Hazard, Didier Drogba, Juan Mata and Frank Lampard.

During this season, the personal and team accolades continued to come. He was named one of the top 30 contenders for the Ballon d’Or, and he was again named as Chelsea’s Player of the Year, winning the club’s first-ever Club World Cup.

But since then, Mount’s performances on the pitch and relationship with Chelsea fans dwindled. His final season at Stamford Bridge ended due to contract disputes and when he was on the field he struggled to help an underperforming Chelsea side that finished 12th in the Premier League.

He played his least amount of games for Chelsea during that season and scored only three goals as his time in west London came to a sad ending.

Despite the poor performances at club level, he was called up for England’s World Cup squad in Qatar but that was the last time he featured for Southgate’s side.

His move to Manchester United was seen as a chance to kick on from the difficult end to his Chelsea career, but the 25-year-old has fallen even further down the England pecking order and has struggled to leave his mark on Erik ten Hag’s side.

Injuries have played a huge part part as they have sidelined him for long parts of the season, and with Bruno Fernandes being one of Man United’s most influential players, the Englishman has been unable to claim a starting spot. He lifted the FA Cup with the club thanks to that shock win over rivals Man City at Wembley but on an individual note, it has been a very disappointing season for the midfielder.

Mount should be entering his prime years, but instead of building on being a crucial figure for England and Chelsea in 2021, he has become the forgotten man three years later and will have to watch the Euros from afar.

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