Mason Mount's pre-season momentum took a hit on Saturday when he went off injured in the 20th minute against Paris Saint Germain in Gothenburg. Manchester United were 1-0 down at the time, with Ibrahim Mbaye having scored in the 2nd minute, and Tyler Fletcher coming on as the replacement. The immediate issue is simple enough: United now have to wait on the assessment before they can judge what it means for the start of the season.

Carrick's concern after a strong pre-season

Mount has been one of the stand-out players in the friendlies, as Michael Carrick put it, and had been pushing for a place in the starting line-up come the start of the season. That is the part United will dislike most. This was not a player drifting through pre-season, but one of the sharper performers in the group.

The league numbers back up that he has been useful when fit. Mount's latest verified Premier League outing was a 7.2 rating against Brighton in 74 minutes. He followed that with 6.9 in 17 minutes against Nottingham Forest and another 6.9 in 95 minutes against Sunderland. Against Liverpool he was rated 6.7. Those are solid, workable returns for a player trying to force his way into a more regular role.

United's midfield picture has tightened

There is also the squad issue. United signed Mount from Chelsea in 2023, and he has still started just 25 Premier League matches in three seasons for the club. Now they have added Andrey Santos this summer, with the club also having spent a combined £87million to sign Santos and Youri Tielemans. The fee debate around those moves is not the point here, but the recruitment does show how much competition sits around the midfield spots.

United's first league match is away to Hull City on August 22. That gives Mount a fixed deadline of sorts, even if the injury is only a precautionary scare. Carrick already viewed him as a pre-season standout. If the foot issue keeps him out for any length of time, it becomes a selection problem as well as a medical one.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →