MOUNT’S BIG SECRET? HE IS LIKE TWO PLAYERS IN ONE

ENGLAND gem Mason Mount (left), who set up Chelsea’s winner in last weekend’s Champions League final, is someone Steve Holland has been aware of for years.

‘When I was reserve-team coach at Chelsea, I’d ask Neil Bath at the academy if I could go and help him one night a week,’ he recalls. ‘I saw Mason at the age of 12 and 13. He was small and relatively weak at that stage, but had an incredible brain.

‘Sometimes when you don’t have physical attributes when you’re young, it challenges your brain because you can’t be successful just by being faster and stronger.

‘It works the mind, how do I get more touches, how do I anticipate things because I can’t win duels. That is the process Mason went through. His body has developed and he’s now competing equally physically but is benefiting from having his brain challenged early.

‘It is unusual to have a player who is perceptive offensively and clever defensively. Normally you get one or the other. He’s one of the few who gives you both, which is why every coach he’s worked with likes him so much.’