Mason Mount To Manchester United – Transfer Report

In a groundbreaking move, English midfield prodigy Mason Mount has completed his highly-anticipated transfer to Manchester United. The transfer saga surrounding Mount took an unexpected twist when he boldly declared his intention to join United, even offering to leave his former club, Chelsea, for free in the following season.

Mason Mount, a rising star in English football, has captured the hearts of fans with his exceptional talent and versatility on the pitch. Born on January 10, 1999, in Portsmouth, England, Mount’s football journey began in the youth ranks of Chelsea. As he progressed through the ranks, it became evident that he possessed a unique combination of technical skills, vision, and a natural ability to score goals.

Mount made his first-team debut for Chelsea in 2019, quickly establishing himself as a key player for both club and country. Now, following his sensational transfer to Manchester United, the spotlight shines even brighter on the young midfielder.

Strengths

Although Mount performed below par for Chelsea in the 2022/23 season, perhaps because of the managerial turmoil at the club or the criticism and negative media attention he received after the World Cup, it caused a considerable dip in his form and level of performance.

For Chelsea, Mount often started as a winger or a drifting 10, taking up positions by coming in-field from out wide. This was largely apparent under Lampard and Tuchel.

One of Mount’s key strengths is his defensive contribution as an otherwise offensive player. Although Mount starts fairly high up the pitch, he averages an incredibly high number of tackles and blocks, ranking in the 87th and 79th percentile respectively.

This allows him to be able to put tremendous amounts of pressure on the opposition, forcing turnovers and instigating counterattacks. This complements United’s playing style greatly and allows Ten Hag to be able to press from the get-go, placing pressure on the opposition’s defence and creating goal scoring opportunities from high up the pitch.

Mason Mount is also an incredibly creative player. He ranks in the 85th percentile for passes into the final third, and the 73rd percentile for through balls. He is blessed with being relatively ambidextrous, able to send defence-splitting passes with either foot. Such skills will allow him to effectively play with his future teammates in Marcus Rashford or Anthony Martial.

Another key aspect of his game is his ability to drop deep to help progress the ball. During his spell at Chelsea, he often dropped deep from high and wide positions to give his team the numbers advantage in the build-up phases. This can be seen clearly in his progressive passing stat, which ranks in the 93rd percentile. Since Mount is considered to be a replacement/back-up and competition for Christian Eriksen, this ability fares pretty well as he is able to partly replicate what his predecessor currently provides for this United side.

On top of that, he is incredibly adept at both winning fouls and taking set-pieces. He ranks in the 91st percentile for goal-creating actions from getting fouled and also ranks in the 70th percentile for shot creating actions from dead-ball positions. This shows that he is able to win fouls for his team and also convert these set-pieces into goal scoring scenarios, giving his team an upper hand in an era where goals are so hard to come by, unless you’re Man City with Erling Haaland.

Weaknesses

However, Mount isn’t a perfect player. As a predominantly offensive player, Mount can be critiqued for lacking the clinical guile in front of goal. He ranks clinically below average in terms of his npG and npxG. This highlights his lack of offensive movement to move into goal scoring scenarios to finish off chances and he lacks the goal-sniffing instinct of legendary midfielders like Frank Lampard.

Furthermore, Mount’s dribbling isn’t the most stellar. He has a meagre 0.86 successful take-ons per 90, ranking him in the 14th percentile. This means that Mount is a relatively uni-dimensional player, often only able to create via passing the ball instead of dribbling past defences.

Lastly, Mount is also an aggressive player. As a midfielder who records a high number of blocks and tackles, he naturally picks up a high quantity of yellow cards, recording 0.3 yellow cards per 90 minutes. This leaves Ten Hag with a selection problem as Mount who is brought in to increase squad depth could often be left unavailable due to suspension and is an attribute that could hinder United’s progress.

Mason Mount vs Midfielders

When it comes to comparing Mason Mount against midfielders his stats are much more impressive. With standout stats such as ranking in the 96th percentile for progressive passes, and 97th percentile for touches in the penalty area and ranking in 82nd percentile for assists and 86th percentile for shot creation actions, Mount is in the top bracket when compared to midfielders from Europe’s top 5 leagues.

Mount also ranks in the 92nd percentile for shots taken, which we will explore in the next section.

However, it’s important to note that these stats come from where he was positionally played at Chelsea, i.e. as a winger or at times an attacking midfielder in the 10 position, and in general higher up the pitch, which is why the numbers could be significantly accentuated when compared to out-and-out midfielders.

But it’s rather likely that he will be played more in midfield at United, most likely as an 8 or 10, considering the wealth of attacking talent the Red Devils have on the flanks.

Mason Mount Shot Zones & Shooting

As depicted in the chart below, when it comes to his most frequented shot zones, Mount takes a high amount of his shots from the left side of midfield and centrally outside the box, while less so from the right side. This could be because of the positions he was deployed at by all three Chelsea managers whom he played under in Lampard, Tuchel, and Graham Potter.

When it comes to shots inside the penalty area, Mount however, prefers shooting from the central zone and slightly to the right in the box; he generally prefers to get on to narrow cut backs from the right flank as opposed to deliveries coming in from the left.

Further exploring Mount’s shot taking stats, he bagged a total of 27 goals in the Premier League for Chelsea during his tenure at the club taking a total of 269 shots. This tally is against a cumulative xG of 25.04, and he has outperformed his xG over the seasons.

Given that he ranks in the 92nd percentile for shots taken in Europe’s top 5 leagues, United fans can expect Mount to take a lot of shots in-game. With Bruno Fernandes who also takes a lot of shots from midfield and arrives late into the box, it’s certain that United will enhance their goal threat with Mount complementing the Portuguese midfielder.

Tactical Profile

Mason Mount is an incredibly versatile player, capable of playing as an 8, a 10 or even a winger. Such versatility allows him to increase much-needed squad depth in several positions in United’s side. Given Mount’s adaptability and ability to play in pockets of spaces in the final third, he will be expected to play between the lines and progress the ball quickly from central areas while also dropping to the wings when needed. Such flexibility gives Ten Hag a lot of options and further suits United’s quick transitions.

Currently, Mount is expected to deputize for Eriksen and perhaps potentially leapfrog him into being one of the first names on the team sheet. He can also fill in for Bruno Fernandes, providing a degree of creativity whilst being aggressive and leading the press.

Similarly, Mount can be used out wide to replace Rashford when he is unfit or playing up front, drifting in from the left wing to create chances for his teammates. Most importantly, Mount is an option for Ten Hag when he wants to go aggressive and press teams from the starting whistle. Mount can definitely fill in in any of these offensive positions and inject aggression and pressing discipline to allow for the fluid flow of Ten Hag’s vision.

Summary

To conclude, signing Mount is an astute piece of business by Manchester United. A long term replacement for the ageing Christian Eriksen, and a versatile player able to provide cover for many offensive players, Mount is a squad member who will enable Ten Hag to be able to switch his tactical plans accordingly.

As previously quoted by many of his previous managers, Mount is a hardworking individual who is able to inject some sort of urgency and aggression to this United side. Mount may just be the first piece of the ever-complicated United puzzle and a player who could kick start a resurgence of England’s most decorated football club.