Four youngsters who could inspire England to future glory

#2: Mason Mount

Mason Mount

After their loss to Croatia, many observers seem to have identified the major weakness when it comes to England as being a lack of a natural playmaker – a classical #10. Some have pointed out that Gareth Southgate left both Jack Wilshere and Jonjo Shelvey – both potentially able to play in that role – at home, but they have other issues surrounding them that hardly make them easy picks. That means that in the future, the answer to the problem could come from Chelsea’s youngster Mason Mount.

Arguably the most outstanding player in England’s victorious U19 European Championship campaign in 2017, it hardly came as a surprise – given the club he represents – when Mount was shipped out on loan to Vitesse Arnhem in 2017/18. What did come as somewhat of a surprise was quite how good he turned out to be.

After a slow start, he took to the Eredivisie like a duck to water, ending the season with 14 goals and 9 assists in 32 games, including a stunning performance against ADO Den Haag that saw him score a hat-trick and assist in a 4th goal as Vitesse won out 5-2.

A tremendous playmaker, Mount appears to have the rare gift of being able to conjure a chance seemingly from nowhere – something that England are sorely lacking right now – and it helps that he’s a dead-ball specialist too. If he can get a loan move to a Premier League club this season then his track to the England senior squad could be a surprisingly quick one.