‘He’s given me a problem’ – Lampard praises Chelsea youngster after impressive pre-season

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Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has praised midfielder Mason Mount for his pre-season performances so far.

Mount spent last season at Derby County with Lampard as the club’s manager. The 20-year old midfielder had a brilliant season with the Rams, scoring 11 goals and providing 6 assists in 44 appearances across all competitions.

Unfortunately for the pair, their bid to secure promotion ended in disappointment as Derby suffered a defeat in the Championship playoffs final to Aston Villa at Wembley.

However, the England U21 international has now been reunited with Lampard after returning to Chelsea and has signed a new long term contract with the club last month, as noted by The Telegraph.

Mount was impressive for Chelsea in their pre-season matches, scoring three goals in total including a brace against Reading last week.

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Lampard has been pleased with the 20-year old’s performances and has hinted that he will have a selection dilemma. As quoted by the Express, Chelsea’s all-time top scorer said: “He’s done a lot. Coming back here, obviously I worked with him last year. I’m really happy with how he’s trained and his status within the group. The players recognise quality instantly, but they also recognise work rate and character.

“Mason’s got all of those and he’s given me a problem. Ross Barkley’s also had a good pre-season and Ruben Loftus-Cheek will be back later on. It’s good because they’re all adaptable and can play in a variety of positions amongst themselves. I couldn’t ask for more from what Mason’s done.”

With Chelsea facing a transfer ban, Lampard will have to use the players he has at his disposal. The Blues have many talented youngsters in their squad though and so it won’t be easy for the manager to choose his starting XI.

However, Lampard has said that he has pretty much decided on his playing XI for Sunday’s match at Old Trafford. The former Derby County manager said : “More or less [I’ve decided]. Again it’s a long week and I don’t want to say that because I think players have to train everyday to get themselves in the team or get themselves out of the team.”

With Mount impressing in pre-season, there is no doubt Lampard will have trouble selecting his midfield combination and it could be a bigger problem when Ruben Loftus-Cheek recovers from his injury.

Chelsea already have the likes of Kante, Jorginho, Kovacic and Barkley. As of now, it seems very unlikely that Mount will start against Manchester United but there is every chance of him appearing as a substitute during the match.

There could be more room for him as the season goes on though, especially with The Sun reporting that both Danny Drinkwater and Tiemoue Bakayoko could be on their way out of the club this summer.

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