Is Mount the Man for Manchester United?

07/03/2023 1572

Manchester United have completed their first business of the transfer window and Mason Mount will join the club from Chelsea.

The fee for the England midfielder is believed to be around £55 million and Mount has agreed a 5 year deal at Old Trafford.

Many big names have been linked with a move to Manchester United this summer but the deal for Mount was unexpected, with a striker regarded as the top priority.

What will Mount bring to the team and will he be a good signing for Manchester United?

This first thing to point out is the age of the player and Mount is 24, which immediately means he adds some much needed energy to the Manchester United midfield.

Christian Eriksen is a quality player but he does not have the energy to play a complete central midfield role for 90 minutes.

Casemiro is 31 years of age and he will be taking more of a back seat in the midfield in future, without making as many runs into the opposition penalty area.

That leaves Bruno Fernandes and there is no doubting the energy levels of the Portuguese, which are fantastic.

However, Fernandes cannot do all the midfield running on his own and Mount will be important in that respect next season for Manchester United.

Mount is an international midfielder, with plenty of Premier League experience. He started in the final of the 2021 Champions League and helped Chelsea lift the trophy but last season, Mount had injury problems.

The managerial changes did not help his cause and Mount soon felt the anger of the fans on social media.

If we go back to the 2021/22 Premier League season, the last time Mount played a significant number of games in the league, he averaged 2.21 key passes per 90 minutes and 4.53 shot-creating actions.

That places Mount in the top 87% of players in the Premier League for that season and when at his best, he is one of the leading performers.

Mount finished the 2021/22 season with 11 assists and 10 goals in the Premier League, meaning he made over 20 goal contributions during the campaign.

Manchester United would be happy with that return come the end of the 2022/23 Premier League season.

It will be interesting to see if Erik ten Hag will switch to a 4-3-3 formation, which he enjoyed using at Ajax or continue with the 4-2-3-1 system from last season.

If it is the latter, could Mount operate from one of the wide positions, meaning Jadon Sancho and Anthony are going to be under pressure for their place in the team.

Or if it is 4-3-3, Mount could operate more centrally alongside Casemiro and Fernandes, with Eriksen also getting minutes in the central midfield positions.

Either way, Mount is a player who is entering his prime years and if he can get back to the level shown in the 2021/22 season, Manchester United have a top Premier League player on their hands.