Craig Burley believed that Mason Mount was now Thomas Tuchel’s most treasured attacking asset in the Chelsea squad, speaking to ESPN.
For all of the Blues expensive offensive players, it is their homegrown talent that has often been the most influential.
Mount is basking in a glorious individual campaign, having already made 43 appearances in all competitions under two different managers.
In that run, the 22-year-old marvel has scored eight goals and managed seven assists, beating his overall tally from last season.
It is an indication of Mount’s improvement in the final third, which is sometimes a criticism of his generally outstanding game.
Burley recognised this and felt the England international had become Tuchel’s key man going forward.
The former Chelsea midfielder said: “At the moment, Mount is my go-to guy because of form.
“When you’re a manager or a coach and you’re effectively looking to people to save your job, you go to form.
“At the moment, I don’t think its up for debate that Mason Mount is the go-to guy in quite a few positions, because he’ll deliver almost everything for you.”
On paper, Mount probably shouldn’t be the focal point of Chelsea’s front line.
Kai Havertz, Timo Werner, Christian Pulisic, Hakim Ziyech, Olivier Giroud, Tammy Abraham.
All are more natural options in attacking areas, but none of them have performed on a consistent basis like Mount.
In recent weeks, a partnership between him, Havertz, and Pulisic has started to progress.
Between the three, they scored three in the 4-1 win over Crystal Palace last weekend and were deployed against Porto on Tuesday night.
Because of their ages – Mount and Pulisic 22, Havertz 21 – this could well be Chelsea’s trident for years to come if nurtured properly.
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