Mason Mount’s hopes of a return to the England squad have been boosted by a call out of the blue from his old boss Thomas Tuchel.
Mount played some of the best football of his career under Tuchel at Chelsea, and set up the winning goal for Kai Havertz when they won the Champions League together in 2021 with victory over Manchester City in Porto.
While Tuchel told Mount in a recent video call that there are no guarantees their past success will win him an England recall after more than two-and-a-half years off the international scene, the 26-year-old Manchester United star was delighted that the Three Lions coach is keeping him in mind with next year’s World Cup on the horizon and qualifiers against Andorra and Serbia coming up in early September.
‘He called me and he said that he’s calling a lot of players and just wanted to catch up,’ Mount revealed.
‘I don’t know how many players he probably called, 40 or 50 maybe. But it was good to see his face, good to catch up with him and good to speak to him.
‘I played quite a bit under him. We won the Champions League, so that’s a positive. But I think with England it’s totally different now; the competition for places, the amount of people he can pick, it’s a bit different than club football. So I don’t think it goes hand in hand.
Mason Mount’s hopes of an England recall were boosted by a call from Thomas Tuchel
The England boss, pictured here at Wimbledon, caught up with his former Chelsea player
Mount is aiming to regain his best form and hopes for an injury-free season at United
‘He said to me, “there’s no guarantees, even though you played for me”. But it gives you more. You want to push even more to be able to be back in the squad. So it was really good to speak to him and see what he’s preparing.
‘He looked very excited and had loads of energy, like I remember, and was bang up for the new role.’
Mount hasn’t played for England since winning the last of his 36 caps in the World Cup quarter-final defeat to France in Qatar in December 2022 when he won a late penalty that was missed by captain Harry Kane, largely due to a succession of injuries that have led to a stop-start career at United.
‘Of course, as a player, you always want to play for your country and that’s such a big honour,’ he added.
‘Any opportunity that you get to put that shirt on is amazing. I have 36 appearances for England, so I know what it means to be able to play for your country.
‘I’d love to have that opportunity again but I’m focusing on club football first. So I’m looking at that first for sure and see what happens at the end of the season.’
