Mason Mount CAN turn around his Man United career, claims Ruben Amorim

One of the first images of Ruben Amorim at Manchester United was the new head coach embracing Mason Mount in the training ground gym.

Amorim had only been in the building for five minutes and he was already showing Mount more love than he received from Erik ten Hag in a year and a half at United.

It has been a difficult period in Mount's career since moving from Chelsea to Old Trafford, where he won the Champions League in 2021.

Were it not for Antony's £86 million transfer fee from Ajax, Mount's £60 million price tag might have warranted even more scrutiny.

United's return on investment was negligible. Just 28 appearances – including seven Premier League starts – yielded one goal and one assist. A series of injuries have held him back, most notably a calf muscle tear last year, which sidelined him for more than four months.

Mount turns 26 in January and should be at his peak as a footballer, but his United career has stalled and his progress in England has stalled. He has not played for his country since the World Cup quarter-final defeat to France in Qatar almost two years ago.

So when Amorim arrived at Carrington during the international break, Mount was one of the first faces he saw.

Since then, the new boss has mainly singled out Mount as the kind of player who can thrive in his 3-4-3 system. The two spots either side of the centre-forward certainly seem better suited to an attacking midfielder than United's conventional wingers, who must learn to adapt or even reinvent themselves as full-backs.

After coming on as a late substitute in Amorim's first match at Ipswich last weekend, Mount started the Europa League match against Bodo/Glimt on Thursday evening and helped score the decisive goal in a 3-2 win with a smart tap.

He may return to the bench against Everton at Old Trafford on Sunday as Amorim rotates again, but the head coach's admiration for Mount's talent and desire to turn his United career around is clearly visible.

“The first thing is that he works very hard, and then you have to understand the human being – he really wants this,” Amorim said.

'That's the most important thing. He has proven to all of you that he is a talented player. He was European champion.

“So we believe in him a lot. He has to stay fit. He did great (against Bodo/Glimt). I felt we pressed a little higher and Mason did 60 minutes of high intensity.

'You can see in some moments and details that Mason Mount is a real footballer. So we believe in him a lot, especially Mason Mount.”

With that belief and a little love, Amorim clearly hopes United can still see the best of Mason Mount.