Mount plots rise to football’s summit

Chelsea youngster is determined to keep progressing on loan at Derby, writes John Percy

It was close to midnight when Mason Mount received – and missed – the telephone call that would confirm his reputation as England’s latest young star. Mount is the teenager whose name has been on the lips of Chelsea and influential figures at the Football Association for years but it was that May evening, in his Arnhem apartment, which accelerated his rapid rise.

“It was 11.30 at night, a couple of days before a game and I got a call from the England Under-19s manager – I didn’t answer it because I was about to go to sleep,” says Mount, smiling at the memory. “Then I got a call from the academy manager at Chelsea and thought ‘I wonder what is going on here, something must be happening’.

“Eventually I called my Under19s manager back and he said ‘Gareth Southgate wants you to come in and train for four days before the start of the World Cup’. It was quite a surreal thing to hear and I couldn’t believe it at first. It was an unbelievable experience.”

Mount’s invite to St George’s Park was a reward for an outstanding season on loan at Vitesse Arnhem, where he was named player of the year at the age of 19. That campaign in the Eredivisie came shortly after he was named the “golden player” of the tournament as England Under-19s beat Portugal in the final of last year’s Euros.

He is now shining in the Championship playing under one of his idols, Frank Lampard, at Derby County and there is a genuine feeling that Mount is the one to watch.

Selected for the England Under-21s ahead of other highly regarded wunderkinds including Manchester City’s Phil Foden and Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho, promotion to the senior squad is surely not far away. He is the FA’S poster boy for proof that the fabled “pathway” actually does work.

“The desire to make it as a player is massive for me, I always set goals every season,” says Mount. “That is how you improve and go from under-18s to under-21s to the first team. I want to just keep playing as many games as I can in a tough league. I’m just trying to block out the talk about me and focus on my football.”

The crucial difference with Mount, over players such as Foden, is that he is playing every week. That has not gone unnoticed by Southgate, who will make the trip to Carrow Road tomorrow to watch Mount face Holland for the Under-21s.

Intriguingly, Mount (right) rooms on England away trips with Fulham’s Ryan Sessegnon, another player tipped for senior honours.

The influence of Chelsea’s former midfielder Lampard, and his No2 at Derby, Jody Morris, has also proved significant. Mount was targeted by a number of European heavyweights such as PSV Eindhoven, Ajax and Feyenoord this summer, but opted for a move to Pride Park. He has played all of Derby’s eight league and cup games and scored four goals. The club’s fans are just enjoying the ride for the next eight months.

“I think it was a no-brainer for me to go there and play. I didn’t want to spend another year playing at under-23 level when I had the chance to play professionally in a top league and get as many minutes as I can,” he said. “Frank has been brilliant. He has spoken to me a lot one-to-one before and after I signed. I’m always speaking to him and for me, being an attacking midfielder, I couldn’t learn off anyone bigger or better.

“I always go into a game trying to get an assist and trying to get a goal, I want to influence games.”