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Mason Mount: Would he be a good signing for Liverpool? Why has his form dropped off?
In normal circumstances, Mason Mount would be one of the most sought-after players this summer.
The Chelsea midfielder is heading into the final 12 months of his contract at Stamford Bridge and the latest reports suggest an agreement between the player and the club isn’t close.
After excessive spending across the last two transfer windows, Chelsea will have to attempt to balance the books this summer and Mount could well be sacrificed. It isn’t often that a 24-year-old England international is available for a reduced price, believed to be in the region of £50million.
Usually, there would be a scramble for such a player. However, the 36-cap international is having something of a down year.
Couple that with the fact his name isn’t Jude Bellingham and it becomes a little easier to understand exactly why he’s not at the top of everyone’s summer shortlist.
The Champions League winner has been linked with Liverpool and Manchester United over recent months but the implication is that he is a cheaper alternative to Bellingham and that neither club are willing to go all out for the Chelsea No19 until they know where the BVB youngster is going to be playing his football next season.
Mount wouldn’t be a consolation prize though.
Don't judge Mount solely on this season
He is being judged on his performances this season instead of what he’s done throughout his Chelsea career.
In his debut season in the first team, the versatile midfielder scored seven goals and assisted a further five. He followed that up with six goals and five assists in the Premier League the following year. During the 2021/22 campaign, he joined an exclusive group of players to do the double-double when he finished with 11 goals and chipped in with an impressive 10 assists.
The Cobham graduate involved himself in goals and assists for both Frank Lampard and Thomas Tuchel from a variety of roles in a number of different systems.
It is true that he has struggled this term. He’s scored just three times and has two assists to his name in the Premier League. In fact, he’s involved himself in goals in just three outings this season having netted a double against Aston Villa and assisting two in a win over Wolves. The last time Mount assisted a goal in the English top-flight was back in October.
His form has tailed off for England too. Though he started the World Cup in Gareth Southgate’s XI, he lost his place in the team to Jordan Henderson and finished the tournament on the bench.
Mount is just having one of those seasons. There are reasons for it.
Lack of selection consistency hurting Mount
Firstly, he isn’t getting the same opportunities as he was last season and yet expectations haven’t been altered. How is he supposed to hit double figures when he’s averaging just 1.77 shots per 95, down from the 2.79 he averaged during his prolific 2021/22 campaign?
His Expected Goals average has also taken a hit. Last season it was 0.30, now it is down at 0.13. It is a similar story with Expected Assists. That was as high as 0.27 per 95 last season but is now down at 0.15. Furthermore, his 3.09 shot-creating actions per 95 is the worst of his Chelsea career.
He isn’t able to influence games in the same way he was last season because the system doesn’t allow him to. It isn’t necessarily tied to quality as some would have you believe.
This is likely tied to his many, many roles. Mount has been deployed as an attacking midfielder for the majority of the time this season but he’s had stints on both flanks as well as being tasked with playing as a central midfielder on occasion.
Graham Potter hasn’t really given him a position to call his own and this no doubt has a negative impact on consistency and output.
Minutes have Mount-ed up
You also have to factor in the amount of football that Mount has played over recent seasons. In his three full seasons as a Chelsea player, he was involved in 10,559 minutes across the Premier League and Champions League, and 11,700 across all competitions. That is the equivalent of 130 full 90-minute matches.
If you include his exploits for England this season, he’s currently on 2,600 minutes and there are still 11 Premier League matches to play, plus the Blues are still in Europe. The potential is there for yet another 3,500-minute campaign.
This doesn’t mean his career is now on a downward trajectory. People wanted to write Marcus Rashford off last season after he posted the worst numbers of his Manchester United career, netting just four times and assisting twice. In his previous four campaigns as a Red Devil, he’d involved himself in a minimum of 12 Premier League goals.
Refreshed and reinvigorated, Rashford is one of the most in-form players in Europe this season and currently has 14 goals and three assists. The point is, it is naive to write off players before they have even entered their peak years.
Mount only turned 24 in January. A year ago he was viewed as one of the best in the Premier League in his role. He could be in that category again in 12 months time. Perhaps a change of scenery is all he needs. Maybe he just needs to have a set role to really thrive now having spent his formative years as a bit of a utility man.
A move to Liverpool makes a lot of sense
Liverpool could well be the perfect environment for him. They have done similar in the past, taking Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and turning him into a central midfielder having signed him as a winger. He excelled in the middle third until a serious injury stalled his career at Anfield.
The Reds are in dire need of midfield reinforcements and Mount could easily find a place in Jurgen Klopp’s starting XI, either as a controller on the left side of a midfield three or as the attacking No8 on the right.
If Liverpool persist with the box midfield we’ve seen over recent weeks, Mount would be deployed as one of the two behind the strikers. It suits his skill set and would make the most of his high energy and work rate.
Klopp loved Adam Lallana and Mount has similar qualities to the former Southampton man. That could be a match made in heaven for the manager and the player.
What is interesting is that Mount recently signed with ROOF agency and they currently look after a number of players including Virgil Van Dijk, Jordan Henderson and Harvey Elliott.
If reports are true and the Reds have been priced out of a move for Bellingham, then pivoting to Mount makes a lot of sense.
He might not have the same potential as his England compatriot but he’s still better than a number of middle-third options at Anfield right now and, more importantly, he’s delivered on the biggest stages having scored in the Champions League quarter and semi-finals while also assisting in the final.