The Chelsea first-team is the goal for attacking midfielder Mason Mount who is currently enjoying a season-long loan at Frank Lampard’s Derby County, the Telegraph reports.
Mount is one of Chelsea and England’s most promising young talents.
Back in May, Mount received – and missed – a phone call from the England Under-19s manager.
It was 11:30pm, a couple of days before a game and I got a call from the England Under-19s manager – I didn’t answer it because I was about to go to sleep.
Then I got a call from the Academy manager at Chelsea and thought: ‘I wonder what is going on here, something must be happening.’
Eventually I called my U-19s manager back and he said: ‘Gareth Southgate wants you to come in and train for four days before the start of the World Cup.’ It was quite a surreal thing to hear and I couldn’t believe it at first. It was an unbelievable experience.
Mount spent last season on loan at Vitesse Arnhem, where he was named the club’s player of the year at the age of just 19.
Last summer Mount was named the ‘Golden Player’ of the tournament as England U-19s lifted the European Championship.
No on-loan at Championship side Derby, Mount is enjoying learning from Lampard, one of his idols.
Mount’s outstanding performances so far for the Rams this season has seen him earn his first call-up to the England Under-21 squad, ahead of talent such as Manchester City’s Phil Foden and Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho.
The desire to make it as a player is massive for me, I always set goals every season.
That is how you improve and go from Under-18s to Under-21s to the first-team.
I want to just keep playing as many professional games as I can in a tough league. I’m just trying to block out the talk about me and focus on my football.
This season is going to be tough for me – playing so many games – and I want to keep focus on that at the moment. Chelsea is the main goal for me, I want to play in their first-team.
Mount joined Chelsea at the age of six but is still waiting to make his first senior appearance for the club.
Mount, who rooms on England away trips with Fulham’s Ryan Sessegnon, will be watched by Gareth Southgate in England’s Under-21s game at Carrow Road on Thursday.
Mount was a target for several European heavyweights this summer, suc as PSV Eindhoven, Ajax and Feyenoord, but the chance to learn from the likes of Frank Lampard and his assistant Jody Morris saw him opt for a move to Derby.
Mount has featured in all eight of Derby’s league and cup games so far this season, scoring four goals already or the Rams.
I think it was a no-brainer for me to go there and play. I didn’t want to spend another year playing at U-23 level when I had the chance to get out and play professionally in a top league and get as many minutes as I can.
Frank has been brilliant. He has spoken to me a lot one-to-one before and after I signed. I’m always speaking to him and for me, being an attacking midfielder, I couldn’t learn off anyone bigger or better than that. I always go into a game trying to get an assist and trying to get a goal, I want to influence games.
I’m just taking as much as I can off him and Jody as well and learning as much as I can.
