I knew Mount was destined to play for his country, says manager
Mason Mount has been destined to become an England player since the age of 16, according to manager Gareth Southgate.
The midfielder is expected to be handed his first England start against the Czech Republic in Prague tonight. The 20-year-old has been in superb form for Chelsea after returning to Stamford Bridge from his loan at Derby County, but Southgate revealed he had been tracking Mount for four years. Asked what had impressed him, Southgate said: “Exactly what I thought of him when I saw him playing for our under-16s.
“He’s a quality player, an intelligent footballer, presses well, has a real eye for goal, good quality. We’ve had him marked as a player from the first time I saw him at St George’s Park.”
With James Maddison pulling out of the squad due to illness, Mount is set to take his Chelsea team-mate Ross Barkley’s place in midfield.
Mount is one of three Chelsea academy graduates in the squad, along with striker Tammy Abraham and defender Fikayo Tomori. Two others, Callum Hudson-odoi and Ruben Loftus-cheek, would also have expected to be included if they had not been injured.
“I’ve spoken for a couple of years now about the quality of young players coming through our academies,” said Southgate. “Chelsea have been at the forefront of that, winning the Uefa Youth League and FA Youth Cup consistently.
“So it’s a shame, maybe, one or two of their youngsters didn’t get that opportunity and have had to go and play elsewhere and might have missed that moment that has been perfect for the likes of Tammy and Mason. It’s great timing for them, because they’ve had those loan spells and they were probably ready to take that opportunity.”
Other than Frank Lampard’s faith in his youngsters, Chelsea’s transfer ban has helped Mount and others to get their big break at Stamford Bridge. Southgate said: “We knew the quality of the players and maybe if they hadn’t been in at Chelsea, they might have gone on loan to a Premier League club this year.”