Ruben Amorim has already picked his Man Utd favourite – “I love that kid”

Ruben Amorin has identified injury-prone Mason Mount as a key player in his Manchester United revolution, with the new head coach declaring: “I love him.”

Mount, 25, has spent more time in the treatment room than on the pitch since moving to Old Trafford from Chelsea in the summer of 2023.

He has played just 26 games in one season and a third, including just two league starts so far this season. But Mount is fit and ready for the start of Amorim's reign and his record in the Portuguese's favored 3-4-3 system should serve him well.

“Mason Mount… I have to tell you I love that boy,” Amorim said during his media duties before his first game in charge of United, away to Ipswich, on Sunday afternoon.

'You can see in his eyes that he wants this so badly. And this is the most important for me.

“I know he had problems with injuries, he wasn't on the pitch, but now he's trying to stay fit and we hope he can stay fit and show all the talent he has shown, for example at Chelsea.”

'He played in this system [before]so it's perfect for him,” Amorim said. “I have two positions for Mason Mount, so he should be very happy.”

Mount played as both a number 10 and wide for Thomas Tuchel's Champions League-winning Chelsea. He was also a key player for England at the time, but his body was failing him since he moved north.

And Amorim added of his much-discussed system: “A lot of people talk about the 3-4-3 and the 4-3-3 and all that stuff,” he said last week.

“But when I think as a player or as a teammate at Manchester United it's not about a system or formation, it's about the character of the players, the way they see the club.

“So we have to focus on that before we look at the way we play and how we press. The most important thing for me at the moment is creating the principles, the identity and the character that we had in the past.”