With the World Cup now in full swing, one of the standout sides of the opening round of fixtures was England. The Three Lions will be hoping to continue their improvement in recent tournaments, going from semi-finalists in World Cup 2018 to runners-up in Euro 2020.
One of Gareth Southgate’s key men has been Mason Mount. The Chelsea midfielder has been linked with a possible shock move to Liverpool, with the Mirror’s Jacob Leeks reporting that the 23-year-old could be prized away from Stamford Bridge as contract talks have stalled. On the latest episode of our Journo Insight Show, we asked goal.com’s Neil Jones for his opinion on the Mount links.
Neil said:
“Yeah, that’s a really interesting one. I know Liverpool actually thought they had Mason Mount years and years ago when Michael Beale was at the club. I think he’d be perfect for Liverpool. He’s a little bit of a one, isn’t he? I don’t know whether it’s a homegrown thing or just something about it. There do seem to be a lot of Chelsea fans that aren’t having him, and a lot of England fans aren’t having him.
I think he looks like one of those players that all coaches would absolutely love. I think if you were thinking of a number eight in Liverpool’s team, you could potentially move a line higher if you need him to. I think he would be perfect. To me, it sounds like he’s going to sign a new contract at Chelsea and these names are sort of being ‘grease for the axles’ to get that moving, but if Liverpool were in the mix for him, I think it would be a very, very, very smart signing.”
Redmen Reacts
Mason Mount shares some similarities with Jordan Henderson in that he does not always have an eye for the spectacular, so will often come in for criticism for ‘doing nothing’ in a game. He has been a regular starter under a variety of managers, including Gareth Southgate and Thomas Tuchel, and has played in some of the most high-pressure games in international and club football. Adding to the club’s home-grown quota is always something managers look out for, so Mount ticks a lot of boxes. As with the Rice and Bellingham links, much depends on the state of Liverpool’s ownership come the end of the season. If the Reds are being run by a rich benefactor wanting to improve the club’s fortunes immediately through transfer spend, then perhaps Mason Mount can be convinced to join. However, of the three England midfielders mentioned above, convincing the Chelsea star to move to the north-west looks the most difficult ask.
TO HEAR MORE FROM NEIL ON TOPICS SUCH AS JULIAN WARD’S DEPARTURE, CLICK HERE
