‘How injured was he?’ - Mason Mount written off as £55m Man Utd flop as Red Devils are tipped to invite offers for ex-Chelsea midfielder in 2027

United were considered to have pulled off quite the coup when luring Mount away from Stamford Bridge in 2023, as he had 36 Three Lions caps to his name and a Champions League win on what was an impressive CV.

Form and fitness have, however, proved hard to come by across three years at the so-called ‘Theatre of Dreams’. Just 75 appearances for the Red Devils have been taken in, with the target being found on eight occasions. Much more was expected from a supposedly creative influence.

Mount is not a starter under Michael Carrick at present, with further additions being made to the Old Trafford engine room, and will have just 12 months left to run on his contract when the end of the 2026-27 campaign is reached.

Will United look to cash in as they endeavour to get some return on their elaborate investment? When that question was put to Parker, the Premier League title-winning former Red Devils defender - who was speaking in association with FreeBets - told GOAL: “If United were to go and give him another year, that would just bring up everything that's been going on for the past 10 years with players getting rewarded for failure, really.

“It hasn't worked out. It will come across to him as a failure that hasn't worked at a club that his dad supports. Obviously, he wanted his son to do really well.

“I think he's allowed too many injuries to get in the way. I just wondered how injured he was. Was it one of them you can play through it and you can get over it while you're playing, rather than just sit out until you're 100% fit? Because the everyday man, when he goes to work, he ain't feeling up to it, but he goes out and does his job regardless and he hopes that he can get through it and then feel better by the end of his shift.

“But he hasn't done enough. Every time he's had an opportunity to prove himself and he's come in, everyone's gone, ‘yeah, maybe we've seen something’. And all of a sudden, the next game comes around and he's out injured. So he's built up to let people down.

“There's quite a few who still wanted him to do well because they look at what he's got and look at what United have been and everyone's going, you can feel that burst. And it just hasn't worked for him. So sometimes you have to say ‘right club, wrong time’.”

Mount is far from being the first lavish signing to leave United scratching collective heads, with the likes of Jadon Sancho, Antony and Rasmus Hojlund all falling into a similar category across the last five years.

Parker added on questionable recruitment and value for money proving hard to find: “And there's been more than that as well. I just wonder about this way of getting players now and all this data and stuff like that.

“What's wrong with just watching people and asking questions to people around? Just follow them and maybe watch them and see how they conduct themselves. Look at them in games, go and watch them. In theory, it's something that resembles a cold November night at Stoke City and see how they perform there compared to how they perform at home.

“How do they perform when their team's getting battered? Do they still go out there and start demanding more from their team-mates when they're behind? Does his head drop if he misses two chances and then he just stalls? Or does he keep trying in that way? Does he stop shooting because he's scared he's going to miss, he's going to get it wrong and miss the target again and worried about getting booed?

“Those kind of ways are how you find people, not looking at stats all the time. Because stats ain't going to tell you about a person's mentality and what they're like in certain situations. And there's been too many of those players because it needs a certain kind of player to play for Manchester United.

“Don't ask me to write it down or lay it out, but I can see it from what I saw of players who were there who failed when I was there. And it wasn't because they weren't good enough. It was the demands of what it was, the job at Manchester United and the fact they virtually told themselves inside they couldn't handle it.

“And that's what can happen, and that's what is happening to some players. It's too much from the demands and that's not people knocking at your door saying you're rubbish. That's just when you walk around or when you see people and the way they talk, you get that.

“And that's not people being aggressive. It's just the fact of what the club stands for. Even now in these tough times, on and off the pitch in the club, there's still the demands. People just watch the majority looking for you to fail. And then it's about you to go and show something. Then, all of a sudden, you gain the respect of people who mostly hate Manchester United - you've done well for them, they never say their name, they say ‘them’.

“Going back to Mason Mount, this may be him in the end. He thought about Chelsea and what it was and why he was there, what he achieved, and then he suddenly realised that Manchester United is a different club to Chelsea. Very much a different club.

“Playing in London is completely different to playing outside of London. Big change. The demands get a little bit more because you're virtually living in a one-horse town. It's a two-horse town in Manchester, but it suddenly changes. Playing in London, when there's like four or five teams in the top division, at least four, it's completely different. Completely different way of life if you win or lose games.”

Mount’s lowest tally of Premier League appearances across any given season during his time at Chelsea was 24. He has never reached that number as a Manchester United player, with hamstring problems holding him back.

He is still only 27 years of age, so should have plenty of football left in him at the highest level, but four years have passed since he last represented England and a fresh start may be required away from Old Trafford in order for a fading spark to be fully rekindled.