Mason Mount has already made plans for if England win the World Cup. The Englishman is expected to be in Gareth Southgate's 26-man squad for the 2022 tournament in Qatar and may well end up with Raheem Sterling as the only Three Lions players from Chelsea.
Reece James and Ben Chilwell are both out due to injuries sustained in the past month whilst Ruben Loftus-Cheek is expected to miss out despite his surge of form this season under Graham Potter and Thomas Tuchel. Mount, who has struggled for form this season and only has two league goals, is still regarded as vitally important by Southgate.
He will also be in an inspiring position of being at the tournament alongside childhood friend Declan Rice. The pair were both youth players at Cobham before Rice was let go aged 14. The West Ham captain has since gone on to be one of the best defensive midfielders in the league and is a certainty for Southgate's Qatar plans.
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Chelsea have already been made to pay for allowing Rice to leave and have been linked with a move to resign Rice since 2020 under Frank Lampard. Tuchel was also interested in the 23-year-old but a transfer next summer looks more likely than ever due to his contract situation at the Hammers.
Rice's deal expires in 2024 but has already rejected talks to extend, this leaves Chelsea in a commanding position should they press ahead with pursuing a deal.
Speaking ahead of the World Cup, Mount admitted that Rice is part of his plans if things go well. "I’ve never been in a proper English pub I don’t think," Mount said to the Telegraph. "Maybe once in a hotel bar or something to watch football, but not to have a drink. Of course, I haven’t drunk a pint. No. I’ll join Declan in drinking a pint if England win the World Cup - we can do it in a pub!”
Mount was about to embark on his breakthrough season at Derby after England played in the 2018 Russia World Cup and has revealed that playing in Qatar will be the pinnacle of his career.
“I think playing for your country and especially a World Cup is the pinnacle,” said Mount. “It’s what you dream of as a kid. It’s what I watched as a kid growing up, looking up to my idols, playing for England in these major tournaments. You dream of it, so I definitely think this is the pinnacle, this is the top of the game for football.
“As it gets closer and closer, it definitely feels real. It feels surreal at the same time because it’s a major tournament in the middle of the season and it has never been done before. At the beginning of the season it was so far away, so you’re not really thinking about it. But as time goes on it’s getting closer, so you are starting to get more and more excited.”
Mount has already won the Champions League as a player and reached three FA Cup finals, a Carabao Cup final and a Euros final, but he'll want to go a step further next month.
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