Mason Mount

Mason Tony Mount (born 10 January 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Manchester United.

Mount began his senior club career with Chelsea, and joined Vitesse Arnhem and Derby County on consecutive loans between 2017 and 2019. He established himself as an integral player for Chelsea in the following years, and won the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup in 2021. He was named Chelsea Player of the Year in the 2020–21 and 2021–22 seasons. Mount left Chelsea in July 2023, and was signed by Manchester United for an initial transfer fee of £55 million.

Mount won the UEFA European Under-19 Championship with the England national under-19 team in 2017. He made his senior debut in 2019, aged 20, and was part of the England team at UEFA Euro 2020 and the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Early life

Mason Tony Mount was born on 10 January 1999 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, to parents Debbie and Tony Mount. His father was a former non-league footballer who later coached local clubs, including Havant Town. As a child, Mount played locally for Boarhunt Rovers and United Services Portsmouth. In 2003, at age 4, he spent one day a week training in the academies at Portsmouth and Chelsea. Citing Frank Lampard, Luka Modrić and Andrés Iniesta as his favourite players, Mount eventually joined Chelsea in 2005.

Club career

Chelsea

At age 18, Mount was promoted to Chelsea's senior team; he previously debuted for the club's under-18 team in 2014, at age 15, and also appeared consistently for the club's under-21 team by 2016. Mount scored 10 goals in 30 games in the club's victorious 2016–17 U18 Premier League campaign. He also won two FA Youth Cups, the UEFA Youth League, and Chelsea Academy Player of the Year by 2017.

2017–19: Loans to Vitesse and Derby County

Mount joined Dutch Eredivisie club Vitesse Arnhem on 24 July 2017 on a season-long loan. He made his first-team debut on 26 August, as a 77th-minute substitute during Vitesse's 2–1 home defeat against AZ. The following month, he was given his first start in Vitesse's KNVB Cup first-round defeat away to fifth-tier team Swift, playing the full 90 minutes of the 0–0 draw, which Swift won in a penalty shoot-out. He scored his first goal for Vitesse on 1 October in the 76th minute of a 1–1 home draw with Utrecht. Mount went on to appear in the Eredivisie Team of the Year and won Vitesse Player of the Year.

During Vitesse's Eredivisie European play-off semi-final first leg against ADO Den Haag on 9 May 2018, Mount scored his first hat-trick, as Vitesse won 5–2 away. In the second leg, Mount scored in a 2–1 win as Vitesse won 7–3 on aggregate. In the first leg of the final against Utrecht, Mount opened the scoring but was booked and therefore suspended for the second leg. Mount made 39 appearances in all competitions for Vitesse, scoring 14 times, before returning to Chelsea.

Mount joined Championship club Derby County on 17 July 2018 on a season-long loan. He scored a 60th-minute equaliser on his debut for Derby on 3 August 2018, during a 2–1 away victory over Reading. Mount was sidelined for two months after suffering a hamstring injury in a FA Cup game against Accrington Stanley. He returned in a 6–1 win over Rotherham United, winning a penalty for teammate Martyn Waghorn and later scoring. Two weeks later, he scored his second senior hat-trick in a 4–0 win against Bolton Wanderers, keeping Derby in contention for the play-offs.

On 15 May, Mount scored his eleventh goal of the season in Derby's 4–2 win at Leeds United in the Championship play-off semi-final. He went on to play the full match as Derby lost 2–1 to Aston Villa in the Championship play-off final at Wembley Stadium on 27 May.

2019–20: First-team breakthrough

On 15 July 2019, Mount signed a new five-year contract with Chelsea, which would have kept him at the club until 2024. He made his competitive debut for Chelsea on 11 August 2019 in a 4–0 away defeat to Manchester United in the Premier League. He scored his first Chelsea goal a week later against Leicester City during Frank Lampard's home debut as manager at Stamford Bridge, a 1–1 draw, and added another in the next game away to Norwich City, in a 3–2 away win. On 17 September, he suffered an ankle injury against Valencia in the Champions League opener.

In March 2020, Mount was spoken to by Chelsea for ignoring self-isolation rules during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the entire squad was forced to self-isolate due to Callum Hudson-Odoi's positive COVID-19 test, Mount had gone to play football with friends, including West Ham United's Declan Rice. On 19 July 2020, Mount scored in the FA Cup semi-final 3–1 win against Manchester United, helping Chelsea earn a place in the FA Cup Final. On 22 July, he became the first Chelsea Academy graduate to make his first team debut and complete 50 appearances in the same season. On the final day of the 2019–20 Premier League season in a 2–0 victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Mount scored the first goal from a free kick and assisted Olivier Giroud for the second goal to help Chelsea secure a place in the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League. Mount was named in the starting 11 against Arsenal in the FA Cup final on 1 August – Chelsea would go on to lose 2–1.

2020–21: Champions League win and Chelsea Player of the Year

Mount started the 2020–21 season well, as he featured in all Chelsea matches including the one against Barnsley in the third round of the EFL Cup on 23 September, which ended in a 6–0 win at home. Three days later on 26 September, Mount scored his first goal of the season against West Bromwich Albion as Chelsea came from 3–0 down to draw 3–3. In the next fixture, Mount missed the decisive penalty in Chelsea's 5–4 shoot-out loss away to Tottenham Hotspur in the fourth round of the EFL Cup on 29 September.

In January 2021, Mount scored in back-to-back games against Morecambe in the third round of the FA Cup and Fulham in the Premier League. On 24 January, he captained Chelsea for the first time in a 3–1 win at home over Luton Town in the FA Cup fourth round. On 4 March, Mount scored the only goal in a 1–0 away league win over Liverpool, handing the Reds their fifth consecutive league defeat at Anfield for the first time in their history.

Mount scored his first goal in European football in Chelsea's 2–0 win over Porto in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final on 7 April, becoming the youngest Chelsea player to score in the Champions League knockout stage. On 27 April, he marked his 100th appearance for Chelsea in a 1–1 away draw against Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final first leg. In the second leg at Stamford Bridge on 5 May, he scored the second goal in a 2–0 win, which helped Chelsea advance to the Champions League final 3–1 on aggregate.

Early in the season, Mount's presence in the Chelsea and England starting line-ups was alleged by fans and media to be because of favouritism by respective team managers, Lampard and Gareth Southgate. These doubts were allayed after Thomas Tuchel acknowledged Chelsea's growing reliance on Mount calling him "crucial for our game" and "an absolutely key player" and endorsed him as one of the best players in Europe. On 18 May, Mount was voted as Chelsea's Player of the Year. On 29 May, Mount provided the assist for Kai Havertz's goal, as Chelsea won 1–0 against Manchester City in the final in Porto to win the Champions League for the second time in their history, and Mount's first trophy with the club.

2021–22: Second Chelsea Player of the Year

On 11 August 2021, following a 1–1 draw after extra time in the 2021 UEFA Super Cup against Villarreal, Mount scored Chelsea's fourth penalty in the resulting shoot-out, which saw Chelsea triumph 6–5 for their second UEFA Super Cup title. On 8 October, Mount was one of five Chelsea players included in the final 30-man shortlist for the 2021 Ballon d'Or. The Ballon d'Or was won by Lionel Messi, and Mount would place 19th in the rankings. On 23 October, Mount scored his first goals of the season, and his first hat-trick for Chelsea, in a 7–0 home win over Norwich City.

In December, Mount became the youngest Chelsea player to score in four consecutive Premier League games, with a goal and assist in back-to-back trips to Watford and West Ham United, and then scoring at home against Leeds United and Everton. On 16 December, at 22 years and 340 days, Mount became the youngest Chelsea player to score 20 Premier League goals in the competition's history. As a result of his four goals and three assists during the December 2021 month, he was nominated for Premier League Player of the Month and his goal against West Ham was nominated for Premier League Goal of the Month, which were eventually won by Raheem Sterling and Alexandre Lacazette, respectively.