Mason Mount joining Manchester United as their first signing of the summer seemed inevitable, and the deal was duly official last week.
Mount wanted to move from Stamford Bridge to Old Trafford, and Chelsea were eager to offload him to Erik ten Hag. All parties agreed that the transfer made sense, and the agreed-upon initial fee of £55 million represented fair market value.
The Mount pursuit may have seemed like a mini-transfer tale to some social media users, but in reality, the deal was rather simple, unlike last summer when negotiations for Frenkie de Jong were as challenging as deciphering the Enigma code.
When negotiating with Barcelona, football director John Murtough tried his best to be like Alan Turing, but his efforts were in vain. De Jong was the one who escaped, but Ten Hag sees Mount as the ideal replacement for the Dutchman.
Mount is a good signing and should provide the midfield some much-needed vigor. The 24-year-old is still developing and should work with Ten Hag to continue honing the essential components of his game.
In his first season as coach, Ten Hag improved practically every player at the team, and getting Mount to improve is also anticipated. He has the potential to become a top-tier operator and is already an England international.
The Cobham graduate is known for being a creative No. 10 offensive midfielder who can penetrate defenses, but it appears he was actually brought to Manchester to play a different position in the center of the pitch.
Bruno Fernandes is the club’s first-choice offensive midfielder and is expected to start most of the games in that position again, despite being played on the wings and in a deeper midfield position this season.
Casemiro, Christian Eriksen, and Fernandes made up the most stable midfield trio last season, and Mount appears to be a natural replacement for Eriksen, who began to appear increasingly fatigued towards the end of the season.
Eriksen had 13 starts in the Premier League in 2023, although only once did he play the entire game (against Arsenal in January). Additionally, he only ever played more than 80 minutes in a single league game four times in the previous six months.
The 31-year-old earned his name as a No.10, just like Mount, but he’s played deeper in a red shirt. In September, Ten Hag provided clarification on his position, stating: “We put him a little bit deeper on the pitch as he plays in a six and an eight role where he has loads of freedom.
“We tell him which spaces he must occupy, but he must also adjust to those.” I believe he can design a game for you and, if necessary, change the play. He can do that and launch an attack if he notices the last pass between the lines.
Next season, Mount is anticipated to start in Eriksen’s place because of Eriksen’s incapacity to press for the whole of a game. It will be interesting to see how he adjusts to the new position because it will undoubtedly include different demands of him.
Wednesday’s preseason opener for United against Leeds in Oslo shouldn’t be interpreted too heavily because Mount is one of only two senior midfielders available and Fernandes won’t be playing.
Both Mount and Fred should start because they are the more seasoned midfielders. Mount is most likely to start as No. 10 because to the absence of senior players, but it seems certain that he will be deployed in a No. 6 deeper role in the remaining preseason games.
It’s still feasible that Mount will start as a No. 6 against Leeds, and that would be a blatant indication of the position he’ll hold on a long-term basis.
He will undoubtedly be used for United in competitive games in Oslo, whether or not he plays that role there.