Mason Mount accepts Manchester United fans have not seen the best of him, but he believes he is now ready to help the club challenge for the Premier League title.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a goal of winning the Premier League,\u201d Mount says. \u201cI\u2019ve won the Champions League already, but can we do that? Yes, I think we can as a group.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt may seem a little bit far away, but you have to have that mentality to really push yourself as a group. We\u2019ve shown what we can do against the big teams already this season: Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about now doing it on a bigger stage in the Champions League and doing it more consistently in the Premier League. Hopefully, I can be a massive part of that moving forward next season. Yeah, it\u2019s a goal. I want to win the Premier League.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mount is relaxed and open, having just stepped off the indoor pitch at St George\u2019s Park, the national centre for English football, where he managed a team of 11 children who have critical illnesses for a special Make-A-Wish experience. His side faced off against a group of Premier League mascots, managed by Jamie Redknapp, with Luke Shaw assisting Mount.<\/p>\n
Across 18 months of planning, Mount helped organise the event, covering the costs, so that children whose lives have been disrupted by hospital visits could get a footballer experience across two days, including arriving by chauffeur-driven car to a heroes\u2019 welcome, press conferences with video questions from Premier League players, and meals tailored to fitness at the restaurant where the England squad eat when they\u2019re in camp.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou see the smiles on the kids\u2019 faces and how much it means to them, and their families as well,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s a little bit of time away that they can forget about things. Conor Gallagher phoned in yesterday and they spoke to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mount gave a team talk to his players before kick-off, but doesn\u2019t have any plans to move into coaching himself just yet. \u201cI love football, so you never know where it can lead,\u201d he says. \u201cI absolutely loved that today. When we had the meeting and we were talking about tactics and the opposition team, it was amazing. Even Shawy was like, \u2018Oh, you were quite good in there\u2019. I think he was surprised.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n\n Mount has praised Carrick\u2019s impact (Ash Donelon\/Manchester United via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Michael Carrick has surprised many by transforming United\u2019s fortunes with nine wins, two draws, and two defeats from his 13 games in charge, to lift United from seventh to third and the brink of Champions League qualification.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was difficult at the beginning because Michael came in and I got injured, so I missed a few games at the beginning. But he was brilliant with me, saying, \u2018I want you back, you\u2019re a massive part of the squad, and when you\u2019re around the lads, you obviously have a big effect\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I know where I stand within the group, and to be back around the lads, mentally ready to come on to affect the game, that\u2019s super important for me.\u201d<\/p>\n Mount says Carrick, together with his coaching staff led by Steve Holland, formerly Gareth Southgate\u2019s England No 2 and assistant to Jose Mourinho at Chelsea, has been instrumental to the turnaround.<\/p>\n \u201cSpeaking to Michael, (you understand) his knowledge of the game and his tactics. Having Steve along with him, who I already knew before, and bringing Jonathan Woodgate in, they were all people with major experience in the game. Jonny Evans as well.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is so much experience within the group now. Steve has won the Champions League and been a part of big, big teams. (Champions League qualification) is not done yet, but we need to carry on, and I think that we\u2019re in a really good place now.\u201d<\/p>\n Would it be as simple as giving Carrick the permanent job once United confirm Champions League qualification? \u201cIt\u2019s not my call, I don\u2019t know what happens,\u201d Mount says. \u201cBut from my point of view, he\u2019s been brilliant, speaking to me, I really like the way he works, the way he sees the game.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll see what happens, but you can see the way we play and how we\u2019ve performed since he\u2019s been in, and the position we\u2019re in now, and we\u2019re really pushing on.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you look back at the overall season, there were a few games here and there that if they went our way, we would even be higher. Yes, it\u2019s been up and down, but I think we showed the character of the team to keep kicking on. Even in big games when we\u2019ve probably been written off a little, we\u2019ve come up with massive performances.\u201d<\/p>\n It sounds like Mount feels United are close to a genuine title challenge. \u201cYeah, I think we have the quality to,\u201d he says. \u201cWe haven\u2019t had loads of games this season, so maybe it\u2019s been easier. Next season we have a lot more games, but that\u2019s what you want as a player. That\u2019s what you want as a big club. You need big games: Old Trafford, Champions League under the lights, having that pressure of performing and winning games. It\u2019s so important, and that\u2019s what we love as players. The fans deserve it.\u201d<\/p>\n Mount is detailed in his praise of Holland, who led training sessions under Southgate as England reached European Championship finals in 2021, when Mount started versus Italy, and in 2024. \u201cI hadn\u2019t seen him in a while,\u201d Mount says. \u201cHe worked at Chelsea and I worked with him at England. He knows so much about football. He\u2019s got such a football brain, a lot of experience.<\/p>\n \n Holland is a \u201cspecial person\u201d, says Mount (Chris Brunskill\/Fantasista\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cHe brings that kind of calm confidence. If he sees something, he\u2019ll know what to say, and he\u2019s not afraid to say it. In training for the first or second game that they took charge, he was taking a team-talk in training or a huddle, and he was saying about the game tomorrow, \u2018Look, we\u2019re going to win.\u2019 That was the confidence from day one. \u2018We\u2019re going to win these games. We know we need to be in a position that we\u2019re not in yet\u2019. But the focus was the next game.\u201d<\/p>\n Carrick started with back-to-back wins over Manchester City and Arsenal. Mount adds on Holland: \u201cThere are probably not many in world football who have his resume and his experience. He\u2019s a special person and within football, he goes under the radar maybe a little bit. He\u2019s not at the forefront, but he\u2019s someone who is very tactically astute and knows exactly what he wants to see.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s always there to give the gaffer a few tips on positioning, or if he sees someone who maybe needs to be changed, he will come in and say it. They\u2019re always talking. The last game (against Brentford), I\u2019m on the bench and the gaffer will come back and speak to Steve and get (the coaches\u2019) opinions on things. They\u2019re always communicating, which is super important. As players, we need to communicate as well, and it\u2019s been very clear, everyone knows what they need to do.\u201d<\/p>\n As far as Mount is concerned, he knows he needs to stay fit and produce the form he showed in autumn and early winter, when at one stage he scored three goals in four starts. He has played 932 minutes this season, only having one period out injured in February, compared to 962 last season when the fixture list was much longer, and 756 in his debut campaign.<\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t been able to get that rhythm with the injuries and the setbacks,\u201d he concedes. \u201cIf I look back at this season, yes, I\u2019ve missed games, but nowhere near as much as the season before or my first season. So it\u2019s definitely been a step in the right direction.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, as a player, first of all, I want to be available and if that\u2019s taken away from me, it\u2019s really tough to deal with. I\u2019m in a really good position now to kick on. Once we finish these games, then it\u2019s straight away focus on next season, how I can improve and really be a part.\u201d<\/p>\n Mount\u2019s versatility could be especially useful when United have European fixtures to manage. \u201cThere are going to be a lot more games next season,\u201d he says. \u201cI will always back myself. I know what I\u2019m about and know what I can bring, especially to the group. I\u2019m a bit older now, I\u2019ve got more experience.\u201d<\/p>\n Mount now feels comfortable enough in United\u2019s squad to poke fun at Bruno Fernandes. In the dressing room at Old Trafford after the Brentford game, Mount joked to Fernandes that there would have been no chance of him passing to Benjamin Sesko for United\u2019s second goal had the Premier League assist record not been within view. Fernandes is now on 19, one behind Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne. For his part, Fernandes, who does not bring up the record himself, laughed off Mount\u2019s assertion, insisting he went for the best option.<\/p>\n Whether Mount becomes an option for England again depends on his form for United. Thomas Tuchel has an array of talent to choose from in Mount\u2019s position, but the pair also share history, winning the Champions League with Chelsea.<\/p>\n Mount says of Tuchel: \u201cHe gets to a few games, so I\u2019ve spoken to him a few times after the game. I know my relationship with Thomas. He knows me as a player, as a person, inside out. I was probably close at one point to getting in and then I had a little setback, and then it\u2019s the momentum. It kind of pushes you back and you are trying to chase it.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve got 36 caps for England. I always want to get back in the squad. It\u2019s the pinnacle of being a player to represent your country at a major tournament. I will be working extremely hard in the off-season to put myself in a great position to get back in the squad.\u201d<\/p>\n Lifting major silverware with United is the first task. \u201cI\u2019ve had a little taste of winning something with the club, with the FA Cup. It was an amazing feeling, but to do a Premier League? I can\u2019t even imagine how special that would be.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2026\/04\/29115301\/GettyImages-2263248395.jpg\")
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