“I was in awe” – Mason Mount names two Manchester United inspirations

Mason Mount has started to settle into life at Manchester United after he was signed by the club on Wednesday morning.

The former Chelsea midfielder trained with his new teammates for the first time on Thursday and is set to make his unofficial debut for the club against Leeds United on the 14 July.

Mount has also conducted his first interview as a United player, which was published online at 09:30 BST on Thursday morning.

The playmaker spoke about his ambition, which United players he is familiar with, as well as the chance of him singing an initiation song in the coming weeks, however, he also mentioned two certain former United greats that he was inspired by growing up.

Taking on the responsibility of the famous no.7 shirt at Old Trafford is a great honour for the player and he’s named two former custodians of that shirt as players who inspired him in his career.

“I had a lot (of inspirations), looking at, obviously, (Cristiano) Ronaldo. You see the little video of me when I was younger,” began Mount, who had copied the Portuguese’s free-kick against Portsmouth in 2008 in a viral video from his youth. “I loved watching him play and his free-kicks.

“Becks (David Beckham) was also a massive inspiration of mine, growing up with his free-kicks, I was in awe of his technique.

“I’ve had a lot of inspiration from many players, but you kind of take little inspiration from different parts of their game and try and put it into yours.”

Mount will be looking to have a positive impact in a United no.7 shirt, something that has become a rare occurrence since Ronaldo first left the club in 2009.

As a central midfielder, though, the England international also had important influences in his own position.

“Being a midfielder, I always looked up to (Frank) Lampard,” he added. “Modric as well, growing up when he played in the Premier League it was such a special time and many teams all competed for the Premier League.

“And that’s what it’s all about, that’s what we want to do. We want to be up there competing for it and hopefully we make that possible.”