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Ten Hag reveals QUALITY that made him sign Mount as ex-Chelsea star SHINES on debut
Robin Bairner
- 13 Jul 2023 07:09 BST
- 4 min read
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has revealed why he paid £55 million to Chelsea to sign Mason Mount as his first signing of the summer transfer window.
Man Utd defied their tight transfer budget to make England international Mount their first new face for the 2023/24 season, and the 24-year-old made his first appearance in the new colours of his club on Wednesday in a friendly against Leeds in Oslo.
Goals from 20-year-old forward Noam Emeran and promising academy graduate Joe Hugill gave United a winning start to pre-season before they meet Lyon in Edinburgh next week, but one of the major talking points of the game was Mount’s debut.
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The former Chelsea man played the first half of the match before being replaced by another promising youngster in the form of Isak Hansen-Aaroen at the break.
Following the match, Ten Hag spoke of why he feels that Mount will represent an upgrade to his side’s midfield.
"He will bring dynamism into our game and that was one of our conclusions last season," Ten Hag told MUTV.
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"His vision is to play the offensive. But also he wants to be multi-functional, he wants to be complete.
"When you're playing in midfield, you have to attack, but you also you have to defend. We need to be more dynamic in the midfield department.
"I'm sure he will contribute to the success of United because he is a quality player."
A glimpse of what's to come from our new no.7! 🪄#MUFC
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 13, 2023
Mount showed positive signs in his first appearance as a Man Utd player, with his creative qualities to the fore.
After 10 minutes, he was at the origin of a move that saw Amad Diallo set up Hannibal Mejbri to get a shot on target away, while he would later send a chip just over the top.
Mount on ‘great’ Man Utd debut
"It felt great to be on the pitch," said Mount. "We have had that time in training and we have been working so hard, so it is great to show that in matches now. We have been working on a few different tactics," he said.
"I really liked the role I was in today. Being able to drop in and build up the play from a bit deeper, but with that license to go forwards and make runs into the box and be involved in more attacks.
"I like to start off the press, to give the opposition something to think about and then to combine that with an attacking threat and rhythm of our own."
Mount will hope to earn more game time when Man Utd play Lyon at Murrayfield next week.
