Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount has revealed he has set himself a target to score ten goals this season for Chelsea. The 20-year-old has also has revealed the advice he received from his dad that helped propel him from the academy into the first-team.
The Blues playmaker has had a superb breakthrough campaign in west London so far, making 25 appearances under Frank Lampard and scoring five goals. His performances for Chelsea have seen him win his first England caps this term too.
Mount has enjoyed a stunning rise to prominence in the past couple of years which has left him and everyone else surprised, two years ago he was playing in the Eredivisie, a year ago in the Championship, and only since August has he been in the Premier League.
Mount has become vital to Chelsea due to his work rate off the ball that often causes the opposition to lose possession, a trait that was inspired by his father.
“My dad always said when I was younger that you can’t just be a luxury number 10 because you see so many players like that in academy football,” he told the club’s official website. “You see so many players who want to get on the ball, do all the good stuff, but never want to trackback, work hard or do the defensive side.
“You see that so much and he said to me that you need to do the other side of the game too, so that was always in my head.”
Despite impressing under Lampard for Derby’s last campaign, Mount insists he still had a lot to prove to his boss ahead of the new season.
“I hadn’t had a full pre-season with Chelsea before last summer so that was my first goal – to go away with the first team, work hard, show the manager I was ready to play and get as many minutes as I could in pre-season,” he said of his start to the season.
“I knew that would give me the best chance to show him that, when the season started, I could step in and play a big part.”
Mount had a frustrating game against Bournemouth last Saturday with Chelsea slumping to a 1-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge. The England international is unlikely to start against Tottenham on Sunday with Lampard more likely to go with a midfield three of Jorginho, Kante, and Kovacic.
