A narrative has been burbling away for most of this season, away from the shambles on the pitch, but in some ways inextricably linked to it. The curious, nay tragic tale of Mason Mount.
Mount has been embroiled in lengthy and unsatisfactory contract negotiations with the club all season, with his current contract due to run out in June 2024. The new regime, staggered at how the previous regime allowed both Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen to run down their contracts and leave on a free last season, are determined not to let this happen in the future.
Thus far, no contract agreement has been made with Mount and it is understood that while they have now been put on hold until the summer, if no agreement can be made then Mount will be sold.
This would be a catastrophic error of judgement in my opinion and a tragedy for Mount, the supporters and ultimately the club.
For decades, Chelsea were berated for not bringing through any players from the academy who were genuinely successful at the club, since John Terry. That was until Mason Mount, of course.
This breakthrough might never have happened if Chelsea were not banned from making transfers by UEFA in the 2019-20 season. Frank Lampard was hired as manager, presumably because no elite coach would come near the club without being able to sign high profile talent, and of course, Frank understood the culture of the club and ‘being Chelsea’ to the core.
He had also spent the previous season watching Mason Mount closely as his manager whilst on loan at Championship club Derby County.
Mount, along with Fikayo Tomori, Tammy Abraham, Reece James, all made a significant impact on the team that season; none more so than Mount, with 53 appearances, 8 goals and 6 assists. His goal in the last Premier League match at home to Wolves, helped to secure an unlikely Champions’ League qualification with Chelsea finishing 4th. He also scored in the FA Cup semi-final against Man Utd.
His trajectory at Chelsea has been upward ever since with 9 goals and 9 assists in 54 appearances in the 2020-2021 season, with Chelsea winning the Champions’ League at the end of it. Mount was instrumental in this success, scoring a superb goal in the quarter-final against Porto and again in the semi-final against Real Madrid before an exquisite pass through to Kai Havertz for the winner in the final against Man City. All at the tender age of 22.
Last season was his best yet (how do you top a season where you are a key figure in a Champions’ League trophy win?), with 13 goals and 16 assists in 53 appearances and his second Player of the Year trophy, voted by supporters, after he had won it the season before.
Ironic really considering that the media will tell you that Mount divides opinion at Chelsea and is hated by the #MountOut brigade. Of course, match going supporters know what irrelevant social media related rubbish this is. They know Mount’s true value to the club and the team and he reciprocates this admiration, always being the first to applaud the support home and away. But of course he does. He’s been at the club since he was 8 years old and grew up with the likes of Frank Lampard and John Terry as his idols. He get’s the culture and the emotional connection with the club.
Why then have we reached a point where Mount could be on the verge of being sold when he is the natural successor to players like Lampard and Terry and is imbued with the DNA of the club?
It is true that his form has tailed off considerably this season. His statistics are way down, a problem perhaps when your club is run by devotees of a stats-based approach. But anyone with a football brain can draw conclusions as to why.
Mount is quite probably exhausted; physically and emotionally. In effect he’s been carrying the burden of being Chelsea’s best player and their best academy graduate (together with Reece James, who has played far less due to injuries) since John Terry.
Many managers and pundits have made the point that players have been flogged to the point of exhaustion due to the ridiculous playing schedule, in part due to Covid and also the clubs cup success, but also just sheer greed. Mount has played 227 matches since the 2019-20 season including the European Championships and World Cup for England.
At the same time, he’s been on an emotional roller coaster with club and country. From seeing his idol and mentor Frank Lampard sacked, to winning the Champions’ League with Tuchel to the club being sanctioned and a whisker away from disappearing for good, to new owners and a third manager in three seasons. Ask any supporter about the emotional roller coaster of following Chelsea, but especially during the sanctions period and you will find people emotionally drained by it all.
In addition, he seems to be all at sea under the new management. Perhaps a victim of his ability and flexibility to play in a number of positions and willingness to play for the team, it’s hard to know what his best position is. He says it’s as a box-to-box number 8, like his mentor Lampard and I would agree. It’s certainly not as a number 9 where for some bizarre reason Potter played him in the second half of the horrendous defeat to Southampton.
To add to the instability, Mount has seen an influx of young and expensive talent from all over the world, many of whom could play in the positions in which he has been used. Nothing wrong with a bit of competition of course, just step up, like Lampard always did.
Maybe he just can’t get his head around Potter as manager having worked with Tuchel, a bona fide elite European coach with a proven track record. Let’s face it, many of us have the same reservations. Furthermore, managers these days tend to be system addicts and if, for example, you don’t set up with traditional number 8’s in your side, then obviously your future could be limited.
For what it’s worth, I think Potter rates Mount, like every manager he’s played for has. And, unlike the cretins on social media, every single former player and experienced pundit I’ve talked to, also rate Mount highly. It is a worrying thought that the vile abuse that Mount regularly receives could also be a contributory factor in his poor form this season.
I’m very much of the ‘form is temporary, class is permanent’ camp when it comes to Mount. I believe he is the kind of player Chelsea should be rebuilding the club around. He’s 100% Chelsea, gets the culture of the club and it’s support. He’s a brilliant player and a leader in the side although relatively young. He will be needed to help pass on the club culture to the vast array of new and young players who will need to understand what playing for Chelsea is all about. With Cesar Azpilicueta probably leaving at the end of this season and Thiago Silva coming to the end of his career, Mount should be a shoe in as the next Chelsea Captain.
Instead, we face the very real possibility that he might leave. What a travesty. Especially, if he falls victim to a change in the club contract model of long term contracts which are not necessarily advantageous to the players and also when he is significantly under paid considering his contribution and importance to the team and compared to higher paid under achievers.
For those doubting Mount’s importance to Chelsea and his ability, the fact that Man Utd, Liverpool and Man City are all sniffing around should provide a wake up call.
While I totally accept that no one player is bigger than the club and I’m sure there may well be better players in the world than Mount, and that Chelsea can afford to buy them, there are some things that money can’t buy. A product of the academy who has been at the club since he was 8; two Player of the Season awards, a Champions’ League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA World Club Cup, 36 caps for England and a European Championship final and World Cup quarter final all by the age of 24 years surely counts for something?
The worry is that stubbornness, short-sightedness and the temptation to cash in on a sale that would represent pure profit for the new owners could deny the supporters a chance to see ‘one of their own’ become a club legend in the long term.
Passion, emotion and connection are fundamental to football. As Barcelona say “it’s more than a club”; for Chelsea Mason Mount is much more than just a player or a saleable asset. Come on Todd, sign him up!
First published in cfcuk February 2023
