Chelsea: Mason Mount approaching the most vital six months in his career

Much will be expected of Chelsea starlet Mason Mount this coming season. The next six months will be the most vital in his young career.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek is due to miss several months of the 2019/2020 season. He may be able to take to the pitch sometime in November (at the earliest), but he will not “truly” be back until January or so. Even then, because of the nature of his injury, he may not come back as the same player for some time yet.

In the months until then, competition for places will be high both on the pitch and merely a squad spot. With Mateo Kovacic signing and loanees returning, Chelsea is pretty well set in midfield to cope with Loftus-Cheek’s absence.

Of those loanees, Mason Mount will have the most to gain over the next six months. He will largely be competing with Ross Barkley for minutes. When Loftus-Cheek returns, assuming he can pick up where he left off, he will force one of those two far enough down the depth chart that they will need to depart Chelsea (either on loan or permanently). Because of that timer on things, the next six months will be the most vital of Mount’s young career.

Mounts greatest advantage is that incoming manager Frank Lampard already knows him well. Lampard trusted the young midfielder to play a frankly astonishing 3838 minutes over 44 games last season. He even missed 10 games in February and March due to injury and still racked up that amount of minutes under Lampard.

Still though, those are Championship minutes. The gap between a Championship player and a Premier League player is probably not as great as expected when that player is surrounded by better players, but it is still a step up. And because of that, it is hard to deny that if it comes down to Barkley or Mount for the start, Barkley will get it.

But a solid preseason and solid appearances when the chances come could change that quickly for Mount. As already mentioned, Lampard trusted him without question at Derby County. If the young Englishman shows he can hang with the big boys (as he did last season when Derby County played Premier League teams), then Barkley may suddenly be the one on the bench.

And when Loftus-Cheek is ready enough to go again, that will likely spell the end for one of Mount or Barkley’s Chelsea season. Mount would likely go on loan to a Premier League club while Barkley would be transferred. But if Mount departs on loan, he will simply return to a Chelsea that he is on the outside looking in of and while the Blues can suddenly hit the transfer market again.

Mount’s entire Chelsea career does not hinge on these next six months but they will be vitally important in determining his exact pathway forward. If he brings his Derby County form into the Premier League, he will have broken into the Chelsea first team. If he cannot, he will go to a Premier League club on loan where he will try to make his way.

The clock is ticking until Loftus-Cheek returns. Mount can become a Chelsea fixture if he takes his chances these next six months.