Chelsea legend Ashley Cole believes Mason Mount has the potential to become “world class”

Ashley Cole believes Mason Mount is heading on the road to becoming a “world-class” footballer.

The 20-year-old Chelsea midfielder only made his debut for the club he’s been with since childhood in this season’s opener at Manchester United.

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Since then he’s been a firm fixture in Frank Lampard’s team and subsequently registered the first goal of his Premiership career against Leicester City though Chelsea would go on to draw the game 1-1.

Mount, who played under Lampard at Derby County last season, also enjoyed a productive loan spell at Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem where his performances led renowned French publication L’Équipe to name him as one of the ’12 stars of the future’ alongside Kylian Mbappé and Matthijs de Ligt.

Although his Premier League career is 180 minutes old, there’s been enough glimpses to show not only what he’s capable of, but what the Portsmouth-born footballer can become. Someone who is backing him to go all the way is former Blues left-back Ashley Cole, who recently announced his retirement from playing, but warns that Mount must keep his ears open to reach that lofty position.

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“Mount is very mature for his age. He’s got a good head on his shoulders and he wants to improve all the time and he will do because he’s willing to listen,” he told Sky Sports.

“He can play anywhere in the midfield, right, left, holding because his range of passing is so good. He needs to know when to slow the game down, everything doesn’t have to be 100mph. He can potentially be world-class but he obviously has a lot to learn.”

How good has Mount been? Five key things to know…

• Came through Chelsea’s esteemed academy, but only made his first-team debut against Man Utd on matchday one of the 2019/20 Premier League season.
• He’s since made three appearances for the Blues in all competitions, scoring once.
• Previously he played 44 times for Derby County, under current Chelsea boss Frank Lampard, registering 11 goals and six assists.
• During a loan spell at Vitesse, where he bagged 13 goals and 10 assists in 39 games, L’Équipe named him as one of the ’12 stars of the future’ alongside Kylian Mbappé and Matthijs de Ligt.
• Mount is seemingly a first-team fixture under Lampard going forward.