The first year and three months of Mason Mount’s career at Manchester United has so far been far from impressive, having arrived for £55m in the summer of 2023.
When it was announced that Manchester United had poached Mason Mount from Chelsea, there were mixed reactions – but ultimately it was a coup, beating Liverpool and Arsenal to his signature.
But after an early injury in the 2023/24 season, Mount never quite got going for Manchester United and seemed to always have a setback in his fitness – this saw him make just 20 appearances all season across four competitions.
Mason Mount contributed a goal and an assist in his debut campaign, but for £55 million, Erik ten Hag would have been expecting substantially more.
This season started well, with Mount impressive in the new ‘two number 10s’ system that Ten Hag was trialling – this was until he got injured again prior to the Liverpool game.
Erik ten Hag backs Mason Mount
After missing two league games, Mount has already been back in training, which gives us hope that he will be far better this season with less substantial injuries which keep him out for months.
Ten Hag will be desperately hoping this is the case anyway – as he has always been a backer of Mount, and now he has issued yet another backing during his pre-Crystal Palace press conference.
“I am totally convinced of what Mount can bring to the team. I am sure once he is in a longer run he will really improve.
“We have already seen glimpses in the start of the season… what he needs is a longer period where he can train fully with the team”.
This kind of backing shows why Mount will eventually be a success at Manchester United as Ten Hag has so much faith in him to do so.
Recent developments at Old Trafford could also lend themselves well to Mount having a remontada at United.
Manuel Ugarte could give Manchester United No.7 rebirth
While the system has changed after Mount’s injury, there is still a role which he could absolutely play for United considering the addition of Manuel Ugarte.
Upon first arriving at United, Mount was used alongside Casemiro in the pivot, however, this just did not work with the Brazilian’s legs beginning to go.
However, with Ugarte, this should be less of a problem and therefore Mount may be able to play in that central midfield role to a far more effective degree.
Kobbie Mainoo will likely start ahead of him, but Mainoo is expected to have his game time cut in order to protect him from burnout.
Therefore Mount could get plenty of game time between this and being the backup for Bruno Fernandes.
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