13 fun facts about Mason Mount

Mount's footballing education began at an early age at his family home. His father, Tony Mount, had the most influence on his son's football career. Tony was a former non-league footballer who later coached local clubs, including Havant Town and Newport.

While Mount's father had a rather unimpressive professional career, he vowed to continue living his dream through his son. No wonder Mount Senior was the one who enrolled him into one of the town’s best football academies, Baorhunt FC, at the age of four.

Mount has spoken about how his father's influence has been crucial to his development as a footballer. He has said that his father taught him the importance of work-rate, passion, and dedication in football, and that he has always been there to support him.

He said: "Dad always said to me, “You have got to do the dirty work”. ‘He told me you can’t just be good on the ball. You have to track back, you have to make tackles and get stuck in. I always want to introduce that into what I am doing now. I don’t just want to be an attacking player who gets into the box and scores goals. I’ve got to do it all."

It was way back in 2014 and Mount, one of the most in-demand 15-year-old talents in the country, had to pick between a scholarship with the Blues and a host of tempting offers to leave.

However, this was the time when Chelsea were bankrolled by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich and the club's transfer policy was more centred around buying ready-made superstars instead of promoting talent from youth ranks.

World-class players like Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah were not given a chance to play at Chelsea, and so they left – becoming big stars.

His father was worried about the situation and called a family meeting to discuss the possibility of leaving Chelsea. Uncles, aunts and grandparents offered advice to the talented teenager after dad Tony called a family meeting at their Portsmouth home. Mount's resolve to become a Chelsea star, though, stayed firm as he refused to budge under pressure.

Tony later explained the incident in an interview with The Sun, saying: "I told Mason I thought he needed to move on to get the best opportunity.

"I said, 'No one at Chelsea's academy has got into the first-team since John Terry — what chance have you got?'

"Mason shot back, 'I'll be the next one.' He said, 'I'm not leaving Chelsea, it's my club. I've been here since the age of six and I'm going all the way.'"

Mount's idols in football were Lampard, Andres Iniesta, and Luka Modric.

In an interview, he said: “Frank was an example throughout my career at Chelsea, and throughout my career as a midfielder. When it comes to scoring goals as a midfielder, you look at Frank Lampard as a role model. I looked at [Luka] Modric when he was in the Premier League at Tottenham. Andres Iniesta at Barcelona in his prime, playing their tiki-taka, I was always watching them on YouTube.”

West Ham United star Declan Rice and Mount have been best friends for over 12 years. The pair first met when they were just eight years old. They were in their formative footballing years in Chelsea's Cobham Academy, at a time when their aspirations of professional contracts and England call-ups were simply just dreams.

They remained close friends and have since progressed to England teammates. Both have risen to stardom at club level, too, with Rice becoming a key player and captain at West Ham while Mount stayed at Chelsea and has become an integral figure at Stamford Bridge.

With both West Ham and Chelsea in close proximity, Mount and Rice remain in close touch and hang out every now and then on the streets of London. What's more, Mount unknowingly violated the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown restrictions by going out in the open to play football with his best buddy in 2020, for which he was criticised in the mainstream media.

Mount is off to an impressive start. The fact that he is an established Chelsea first-teamer and full-fledged England international now is because of his past success.

He made the headlines from 2015 to 2017 when Chelsea's youth ranks won the FA Youth Cup (twice), and UEFA Youth League. He was also named the Golden Player for the Three Lions at the UEFA European U-19 Championship in 2017. He was awarded the prize after scoring two goals and providing three assists in the tournament, which England won.

Mount was praised for his performances and winning mindset throughout the tournament, and he was seen as one of the key players in England's triumph.

Mount's performance at the U-19 European Championship helped to establish him as one of the most promising young players in England, and it led to him being called up to the senior England team by Gareth Southgate for the first time in 2018 after impressing in his loan spell at Derby County.

Mount has been at Stamford Bridge since he was a six-year-old but was born in Portsmouth and he was raised in a family that supports Pompey. In fact, his first ever match was a Pompey game when he was aged four or five and described the atmosphere at Fratton Park as "unbelievable."

Speaking on The Football Show on Sky Sports, Mount said: "I think my first football game I ever went to was Pompey. Unbelievable atmosphere. My dad took me when I was four or five and that is probably the earliest memory of watching a game.

“Just going into Fratton Park and seeing the atmosphere. It was unbelievable. It still is now. If I get a little chance that I can go down and watch a game or get home I always try to do that.”

With being a Pompey fan comes the fierce rivalry with fellow South Coast Hampshire neighbours - Southampton. So when a family friend invited his father and him to rivals Southampton, so coaches could evaluate their trialists against a Chelsea player, the prodigy was not happy at all with something.

Mount's father, Tony, revealed in an interview, saying: “We were driving there and Mase said, ‘I won’t have to wear that shirt will I?!’ It’s embedded in him. I said he’d just have a bib on.

“They split the boys into four teams and took them away to get changed. The first team came out wearing black, another in blue and then another in yellow. I’m looking for Mason and thinking, ‘Please don’t come out in red and white! PLEASE don’t come out in red and white!’ And he’s come out in this red and white kit with a face like thunder. He’s going ‘Dad! Dad!’ and pointing at the shirt. He played like a man possessed that night because he was so unhappy about this kit. He scored 14 goals.”

Needless to say, there has always been a bit of extra bite and motivation for boyhood Pompey fan Mount to perform against the Saints. From cupping his hands to his ears for his goal celebration to taking on social media with 'shush' emoji, Mount never misses a chance to make a mickey out of Southampton fans.

Of course, there will be plenty of coaches who have contributed to developing Mount into the player he is today - hard-working, dynamic, a nightmare for defences with an eye for a pass and the goal.

But one man in particular deserves a lot of credit for his rise is one of Chelsea’s biggest legendary figures, Lampard, who brought Mount to Derby on loan, where the youngster shone brightly in his first taste of senior football in England. Lampard was a huge fan of Mount's talents and was instrumental in helping him break into the Chelsea first-team when he became the Blues' manager first time around.

In an interview, Mount's father highlighted the huge influence the midfield great has had on his son’s career: “Without a doubt, massive credit to Frank. The amount of time he spent with Mason one-on-one after training, just things he would say to him and add to his game.

“We knew that. Mason had the chance to go and play in Germany in the Bundesliga, we flew out there and met a couple of clubs and I was very impressed. We came back and Mason got a call and the next thing we were in London meeting with Frank and Jody [Morris].

“As soon as we met with them and came out of that meeting, I knew Mason wanted to play for them and he said, ‘I want to sign for Derby’. I said, ‘why, the Championship is a really gruelling and tough league’, but he said, ‘yeah, I want it, it will add to my game, but more importantly I’ll learn from Frank Lampard every day, and there’s nobody better to learn from."

The Blues had a phenomenal 2020-21 season across all competitions, and Mount's unstoppable form was a major driving force behind their success in that campaign.

He contributed with important goals and assists, helping the club secure a top-four finish in the Premier League and win the UEFA Champions League, where he played a telling through-pass for teammate Kai Havertz's match-winner in the final.

Mount's clutch performances earned him recognition as the Chelsea Player of the Season, highlighting his impact and importance to the team, while he was also included in the PFA Team of the Year that season.

He became the youngest player since John Terry in 2001 (21) to be voted for the club's annual award, and retained it the following season, becoming only the fifth player to win consecutive Chelsea Player of the Season awards, after Ray Wilkins, Frank Lampard, Juan Mata, and Eden Hazard.

Mount continued to shine for Chelsea during the 2021-22 campaign. He registered 11 goals and 10 assists across 32 English top-flight outings, becoming only the fifth player in Chelsea’s Premier League history to accomplish this feat, joining Lampard, Didier Drogba, Juan Mata, and Eden Hazard. Not bad company! What's more, Mount became the youngest to do so, at just 23.

Known for excellent dribbling ability that allows him to navigate through tight spaces and take on opponents with confidence, he finished the 2021-22 season with 29 goal contributions in all competitions for Chelsea and also created more chances than anyone in the squad, highlighting his underrated attributes such passing accuracy, vision and ability to find key passes.

After the Blues midfielder scored an excellent free-kick against Wolves at the end of the 2019/20 season, Chelsea shared a video of their academy graduate practising dead balls as a kid.

Well, going by that piece of evidence, Mount was probably better than most of us even as a kid. After all, he learned from the best. Ronaldo might not score that many free-kicks these days, but a nine-year-old Mount had a perfect view of what many consider to be his best.

A boyhood Portsmouth fan, Mount was in the Pompey end at Old Trafford when Ronaldo scored that stunner at Old Trafford in January 2008. Mount later admitted that he fell in love with Ronaldo's freekick technique, and spent hours recreating Cristiano Ronaldo free-kicks in Chelsea academy.

There's not much Chelsea star Mount can't do. He's led the Blues to a Champions League triumph, and England to a European Championship final, and he's also a gaming ambassador.

The 24-year-old is an avid gamer and is often seen playing FIFA, Call of Duty: Warzone, Fortnite and other popular games online. He was named as Combat Gaming's first official Brand Ambassador back in June 2021.

Last year, he teamed up with Together For Short Lives and Combat Gaming to put on a Nintendo Switch party for the amazing children who work with the charity. He also raced professional Formula One and McLaren driver Lando Norries on F1 22. Below is an old video of Mount taking on YT gaming star Chunkz on FIFA 21.

Mount has yet to sign a new deal at Chelsea, with his existing one set to expire next summer. He has been strongly linked with a move away from the club off the back of an underwhelming campaign.

Liverpool, Manchester United, and Arsenal are reportedly keeping tabs on his situation, and are keen to add the England star to their respective squads.

Mount's versatility, technical ability and work rate makes him such a valuable asset to any team. The latest reports suggest he's angling towards a move to Erik ten Hag's Manchester United.