Chelsea: RB Leipzig loan better for Mason Mount than CFC first-team bench

Mason Mount has made too much progress at Derby County to afford – let alone deserve – any setbacks next season. If Chelsea do not make a place for him and RB Leipzig will, he should join the young English diaspora in Germany.

This summer will bring almost as much turmoil to Derby County as Chelsea. Derby are one of three Championship clubs who potentially face a points deduction under the EFL’s financial regulations, which they started enforcing last month against Birmingham City. One way out of this trouble is for the owner to sell the club. Another is to win promotion to the Premier League. The Rams are currently one point out of the playoff spots. However, given their financial situation and as illustrated by their reliance this season on loanees, Derby will not have a squad capable of staying in the Premier League beyond the one season. If anything, they may end up close to matching their historically bad campaign of 2007/08, their last time in the top flight.

Against all this, Frank Lampard is already linked with the Chelsea job next season. If he stays, Derby will not be able to do much for him in the transfer market, which may only keep him through next season.

And on top of that, Derby’s Chelsea loanees, Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori, are also unlikely to return to the Rams. Mount and Tomori are two of the most important players in Lampard’s squad. Tomori has the second-most minutes on the team this season, while Mount is one of the most crucial parts of the Rams’ play.

Mount has missed 10 league games this season through injury. In the 27 games he has played, Derby’s record is 13W-7D-7L. Without him, they are 2W-4D-4L. That is, Derby have won half of their games with Mount, and only a fifth without him. He has missed about one-quarter of their games, and those games comprise about one-third of their draws and losses.

Mount has been arguably too important for Lampard and the Rams. His recent injury appears the results of fatigue more than trauma. With eight games still to go, he is only 150 minutes short of his total from last season with Vitesse Arnhem. The increased physicality and fixture congestion of the Championship have taken their toll on him.

While Lampard and the Rams overshot their mark with Mount, this is the sort of season Mount should be having. He should be increasing his workload – the combination of physicality and schedule – each year as part of his development.

Chelsea must not let Mount regress next season by doing anything that will arrest his development, such as keeping him around the first-team without a guarantee of regular playing time. But between his age (he just turned 20 in January) and the Blues’ current complement of midfielders, his prospects for a productive season at Chelsea are dim if Maurizio Sarri remains in charge.

RB Leipzig have stepped forward to take him off Chelsea’s hands for next season. This could be the perfect destination for Mount. Leipzig have no problem bringing youth into their regular XI. This season, five of their 12 most-used players are under 23.

RB Leipzig would give him his first experience with football in a top-five European league. They will likely qualify for the Champions League, where they would have a reasonable shot of going past the group stage. He would also accelerate his football education, as Julian Nagelsmann will take over RB Leipzig next season. Nagelsmann is one of the most forward-looking and tactically-intensive young managers in Europe, which would be the perfect follow-up to everything Mount is learning about the English game from Lampard.

The Bundesliga is probably the best preparation for the Premier League. Chelsea’s most successful loan has been Andreas Christensen, who spent two years at Borussia Monchengladbach. He is now experiencing the sort of setback Mount must avoid.

If RB Leipzig are serious in their interest, Chelsea and Mount should negotiate for a deal long enough to ensure Mount returns to a place in the first team. That timeframe depends as much on how long the Blues stick with Maurizio Sarri as Mount’s own development.

Perhaps if things go well this summer, Chelsea and Mount will politely decline RB Leipzig’s offer and Mount can join the Cobham presence growing in the regular squad.