Reported Liverpool transfer target Mason Mount is good enough to start in Jurgen Klopp’s current team.
That’s the view of former Reds midfielder Danny Murphy. Speaking on TalkSPORT yesterday, Murphy gave a glowing appraisal of the player Liverpool are reportedly keen to sign this summer.
“With Mason Mount there are takers, that’s for sure. You’re talking about getting him cheaper than you would have to, he’s a terrific player – I am a big fan of Mason Mount,” said the pundit. “The criticism this season is fine because he has had a poor time, as has the team. But two out of the last three seasons he’s been player of the year at Chelsea. He’s played in five finals.
“He’s only twenty-four, he’s been at a huge club and for four seasons, three of them he has been excellent. Three managers, including Gareth Southgate tended to pick him every game.
“The fact is he is going to have a choice, because nearly all the big clubs are in for him. They are in for him because they can see what a talent he is. He’s a brilliant footballer. From a footballing perspective I think he gets in Liverpool’s team, he gets in Man United’s team, I think he’d get really good game time at Arsenal.”
Liverpool edging closer to Mount coup
The question of whether Mount gets in Liverpool’s team or not is one we may have to be answering come next season. As per the latest reports today, the Reds are edging ever closer to bringing him in from Chelsea.
There will be some who still question the sanity of such a move, given the difficult season he’s had. But as Murphy points out, that dip has been proceeded by a pretty solid body of work.
There’s certainly a feeling that given the stability of working under the same manager for a long period, Mount could become a real asset again.
The only lingering doubt should perhaps be over where the 24-year-old’s best position is. It’s fairly clear that Liverpool see him as a roving ‘eight,’ a player who can do the dirty work in midfield as well as getting forward in attack.
But it’s worth mentioning that most of his best work for Chelsea has been done while playing further up the pitch. Now, if you were to ask whether Mount gets in Liverpool’s current attack, it’s a different question than whether he gets in the midfield.
In Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz et al, Klopp has plenty of more effective forward options. But in midfield, Murphy is probably right that Mount would slot in right now. That’s why they want to sign him and that’s why – we think – they probably will.