Mason Mount's Misfortune

uwotm8

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He's not a bad player, I just don't know where he fits in.

It's the Van De Beek issue all over again.
it’s the weird positive problem of Bruno both being captain and a flawless fitness record
 

uwotm8

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Such a stupid signing. Injury prone, too expensive, and already plays in the position of our captain. The people who authorised it need to be placed on gardening leave.
Erik had a clear (but stupid) vision of playing two 10s in the premier league. It made sense as we bought into that vision.
 

sparx99

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And you said similar player, I was pointing out Rice is significantly superior so not really a similar player. So a much better player with much longer on his contract, Mount really was overpriced by that metric.
Declan Rice was £100m rising to £105m. Mount was £55m rising to £60m. Who seems more likely to trigger the clauses?

It’s £45m currently and could end up at either 40m or 50m depending on clauses triggered.
 

sparx99

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Erik had a clear (but stupid) vision of playing two 10s in the premier league. It made sense as we bought into that vision.
You mean like City have done with Bernardo and De Bruyne? Or Gundogan and De Bruyne?
 

sparx99

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And you said similar player, I was pointing out Rice is significantly superior so not really a similar player. So a much better player with much longer on his contract, Mount really was overpriced by that metric.
I don’t think Rice is significantly better tbh. They play different roles so comparisons are hard to make but one guy has won the Conference League and the other won the Champions League. They’ve both been mainstays for England. Mount won player of the year twice for Chelsea.

I get that Mount isn’t a flashy player or exciting in the way that some unknown Brazilian wonderkid could be but he seems like the kind of player the Germans would love. He’s hard working, has enough quality on the ball and contributes in both attacking and defensive phases. There is a reason Tuchel liked him and Bayern were linked in the summer.

It hasn’t worked out for him so far but we’ve also barely seen him play.
 

sparx99

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Such a stupid signing. Injury prone, too expensive, and already plays in the position of our captain. The people who authorised it need to be placed on gardening leave.
Depth is also a thing. We should want cover for Bruno just as City have spare £50m players.
 

Martial

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Depth is also a thing. We should want cover for Bruno just as City have spare £50m players.
For 55-60m and one of the highest wages at the club? When available for free a year later?

What absolute turds of signings Mount and Havertz both are for the money.
 

Escobar

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If we paid £55m for Lingard would you consider that an overpay? Because that's the kind of player we got, but more injury prone. And the discussion about fee isn't really relevant anyway because he would have been free this summer.
Lingard? Yeah right, why not even say Bebe, or Dong?
 

Massive Spanner

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It isn't really an "overpay" if he turns out to be a good transfer. We definitely didn't expect him to be out for almost the entire season, so hindsight is 20/20.
We needed him NOW because Fred contract was up. I don't mind this fee really, the main thing is we can easily recoup the money we paid for him (contrary to for example Antony).
Fred’s contract wasn’t up was it? We sold him for a fee. We could have actually let him go for free next summer and got Mount for free. Instead we made a loss of about £50m, for a player on much higher wages, who has barely played a game, and probably isn’t as good a fit for the team as Fred was.
 

Sassy Colin

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We originally offered £40M, I seem to remember. That seemed more than reasonable.

When our offer was turned down, we should have said thanks, but no thanks.

We could have had that fella who went to Spurs for £40M, and he's actually really good at football. Probably could have paid him half as much, too.
 

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I'm still not really at a point where I can judge him as a player at our club, as we've barely seen him in action. I've never really got him, so my judgement is still pending. Hopefully he can have a worthwhile contribution before the season is over.
 

Dion

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Declan Rice was £100m rising to £105m. Mount was £55m rising to £60m. Who seems more likely to trigger the clauses?

It’s £45m currently and could end up at either 40m or 50m depending on clauses triggered.
I was quoting you. You said £40 million in your first post.
 

Dion

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I don’t think Rice is significantly better tbh. They play different roles so comparisons are hard to make but one guy has won the Conference League and the other won the Champions League. They’ve both been mainstays for England. Mount won player of the year twice for Chelsea.

I get that Mount isn’t a flashy player or exciting in the way that some unknown Brazilian wonderkid could be but he seems like the kind of player the Germans would love. He’s hard working, has enough quality on the ball and contributes in both attacking and defensive phases. There is a reason Tuchel liked him and Bayern were linked in the summer.

It hasn’t worked out for him so far but we’ve also barely seen him play.
This is absolutely wild. One is one of the best all round midfielders in the world, the other is a system player at best. Mount won player of the year at Chelsea because he's a local lad who put in a shift and generally they've been pretty shit outside of one Champions League run. Likewise, Rice is actually an England mainstay, Mount has made 24 starts for England and finished exactly 8 games. Rice has started 44 in that time and actually finished 31 of them.

I'm sure Bayern were interested, but not for anywhere near £55m. Likewise, there's a reason Arsenal went for Havertz over him.
 

Bondi77

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Looking forward to Mason strutting his stuff in a Utd shirt...will be like a new signing.
 

RedRonaldo

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You mean like City have done with Bernardo and De Bruyne? Or Gundogan and De Bruyne?
Those are possession type of midfielders who are used to involve in a lot of build up play for which Bruno and Mount aren’t.
 

redcucumber

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Those are possession type of midfielders who are used to involve in a lot of build up play for which Bruno and Mount aren’t.
Yeah I was about to say, Bruno in particular is not smart enough in possession for that comparison to be a sound one (neither is Casemiro compared to Rodri).
 

Ighalo25Red

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£55 was a great deal for a young, English player with international experience, who can play all across the front line and was Chelsea’s POTY.

He’s a lad who actively chose to leave Chelsea as he wanted to play for Manchester United, and he hasn’t had a proper chance to show us what he’s got yet. I think it’s poor form as a supporter to write him off as a bad signing so early. Maybe if we get behind him as a fanbase it will help him find his best form when he returns?
 

redcucumber

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£55 was a great deal for a young, English player with international experience, who can play all across the front line and was Chelsea’s POTY.

He’s a lad who actively chose to leave Chelsea as he wanted to play for Manchester United, and he hasn’t had a proper chance to show us what he’s got yet. I think it’s poor form as a supporter to write him off as a bad signing so early. Maybe if we get behind him as a fanbase it will help him find his best form when he returns?
If we didn't already have Bruno (or had unlimited freedom to spend money however we liked) I'd agree. But Bruno is our captain, is freakishly never, ever absent and plays a similar role to Mount. It was a bit of a headscratcher before he signed and he obviously didn't have much of a chance to prove himself before getting injured. And I know it's an unfair criticism as players can't help getting injured, but we've been down this road before with perennially unavailable players languishing at the club and then subsequently struggling to establish themselves (while making an absolute fortune in the process).

I'm looking forward to him coming back because he's a different kind of player and he's relatively flexible. It'd be nice if he hits the ground running to give him and the fans a boost.
 

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Ighalo25Red

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If we didn't already have Bruno (or had unlimited freedom to spend money however we liked) I'd agree. But Bruno is our captain, is freakishly never, ever absent and plays a similar role to Mount. It was a bit of a headscratcher before he signed and he obviously didn't have much of a chance to prove himself before getting injured. And I know it's an unfair criticism as players can't help getting injured, but we've been down this road before with perennially unavailable players languishing at the club and then subsequently struggling to establish themselves (while making an absolute fortune in the process).

I'm looking forward to him coming back because he's a different kind of player and he's relatively flexible. It'd be nice if he hits the ground running to give him and the fans a boost.
Yes, it does worry me that he could be one of those that never really settles in after an early injury. But equally, he could really crack on when he's back so let's hope for that.

Bruno is never injured, until one day he will be... We don't have anyone else who can play the no10 role (Eriksen is approaching the end and McTominay isn't the man) so we need a quality back-up and successor for our 30 year old captain. If Mason can have a good season next year then the role will be his soon thereafter. If you ask me, this is potentially an incredible piece of succession planning, carried out for a great price. I really hope the boy makes it.
 

uwotm8

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You mean like City have done with Bernardo and De Bruyne? Or Gundogan and De Bruyne?
gundogan has 8 qualities but I see your point.

Maybe I should rephrase that to prematurely prioritising a 10 when we do not have the foundation to play that way successfully.
 

fergiewherearethou

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Yes, it does worry me that he could be one of those that never really settles in after an early injury. But equally, he could really crack on when he's back so let's hope for that.

Bruno is never injured, until one day he will be... We don't have anyone else who can play the no10 role (Eriksen is approaching the end and McTominay isn't the man) so we need a quality back-up and successor for our 30 year old captain. If Mason can have a good season next year then the role will be his soon thereafter. If you ask me, this is potentially an incredible piece of succession planning, carried out for a great price. I really hope the boy makes it.
I would love to see his Chelsea top form in the Utd shirt but after 2 consecutive seasons full of injuries I'm afraid it will never happen.
 

MadDogg

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I would love to see his Chelsea top form in the Utd shirt but after 2 consecutive seasons full of injuries I'm afraid it will never happen.
It's not really 2 seasons. It was only towards the the end of last season where he got injured (March 2023), and I think the expectation is that he'll come back in March 2024. So it'll be 12 months. Obviously it's not ideal but it's also not as bad as a lot of people make out.
 

Matt851

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Yes, it does worry me that he could be one of those that never really settles in after an early injury. But equally, he could really crack on when he's back so let's hope for that.

Bruno is never injured, until one day he will be... We don't have anyone else who can play the no10 role (Eriksen is approaching the end and McTominay isn't the man) so we need a quality back-up and successor for our 30 year old captain. If Mason can have a good season next year then the role will be his soon thereafter. If you ask me, this is potentially an incredible piece of succession planning, carried out for a great price. I really hope the boy makes it.
Yes, it does worry me that he could be one of those that never really settles in after an early injury. But equally, he could really crack on when he's back so let's hope for that.

Bruno is never injured, until one day he will be... We don't have anyone else who can play the no10 role (Eriksen is approaching the end and McTominay isn't the man) so we need a quality back-up and successor for our 30 year old captain. If Mason can have a good season next year then the role will be his soon thereafter. If you ask me, this is potentially an incredible piece of succession planning, carried out for a great price. I really hope the boy makes it.
Even if he manages to stay fit and has a massive upturn in form I don't see he will ever be considered as being signed at a great price given there was only a year left on his contract
 

Todd

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Depth is also a thing. We should want cover for Bruno just as City have spare £50m players.
While squad depth is absolutely important, it's not a fair comparison. City can easily have the luxury of having expensive players on their bench because they have zero weaknesses in their first eleven. We, on the other hand, went into last summer realistically needing better players at 3 or 4 positions in the first eleven, so blowing a significant portion of our budget on a backup players was incredibly reckless.
 

UnrelatedPsuedo

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For 55-60m and one of the highest wages at the club? When available for free a year later?

What absolute turds of signings Mount and Havertz both are for the money.
Havertz has been fairly brilliant. Quietly settling in, influence growing since the turn of the year. He’s pretty crucial to how Arsenal play now.

Additionally, he’s settling in alongside another brand new midfielder in Rice, as his club implements a new approach. Arsenal have gone the City route and have Odegard and Havertz operating so far forward, with Rice working as a poor man’s Rodri. It’s showing signs of really working.

Cant compare his signing to Mount. I think he’ll finish the season as one of the best signings by anyone.
 

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With the amount of time he has been out of the game in consecutive seasons, there has to be serious concern about his future as a top level pro. Who knows what this is taking away from him in terms of athleticism, and who on earth will be the least bit surprised if he finally comes back and breaks down again within a couple of months?

How many players actually come back from so long out and just carry on as the player they were before the injury (s)?
 

marktan

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£55m for him will turn out to be a bad deal, just by virtue of him being a good player but not great at anything. The definition of a squad player. Think Lucas Vasquez. Or John O'Shea. Is anyone paying £55m for them? The answer is no.

He won't get assists since he won't take many corners here, he won't get goals since he won't be playing in the front 3 of a 3-5-3 system and won't be able to take the spaces to score from that he did at Chelsea because Bruno takes those spaces. So we've signed a midfielder for big money.. who has almost no specialisation in being a midfielder. Running around a lot and being able to pass ten yards hardly warrant big money. Hell Mctominay is limited too but he's a big fecker who is a great finisher. Truth is if we scouted anyone outside of players from Ajax or the Dutch League that Ten Hague has watched, you can find a similar calibre squad player for £20m. Hell Brighton are finding better players like Enciso for cheaper. I actually would have preferred Gallagher or Haveertz, both have more to their game than Mount does.