Manchester United have a player who could be like a new signing - but time is running out

With less than a year left on his Chelsea contract, eyebrows were raised when Manchester United signed Mason Mount for an initial fee of £55million in July 2023.

United wanted to lower the average of their midfield options that summer and identified Mount as the ideal candidate to help them do so. He arrived at Old Trafford with the expectation of replacing Christian Eriksen in the starting XI.

Mount is eight years Eriksen's junior, meaning he was expected to walk straight into the team and offer United more energy. However, his United career has so far been restricted to just 32 appearances because of a series of injury issues.

The former Derby County loanee has played just 12 times this season and last featured in the 2-1 win over Manchester City on December 15. He started that triumph at the Etihad Stadium but was forced off with just 14 minutes played.

"Words can't portray how devastated I'm feeling right now," Mount wrote on Instagram a few days later. "You could probably see the look on my face when it happened. I knew what it meant."

The England international has been working hard on his rehabilitation programme at Carrington in recent weeks and head coach Ruben Amorim has said he should play again this season. However, he was unable to put a specific timeframe on exactly when he will be back.

Having been plagued by injuries since arriving at Old Trafford, a lot of United fans have understandably become frustrated with Mount, with some calling for him to be offloaded this summer. However, his recent injury record will put prospective buyers off, particularly when United would want to recoup as close to the £55m they spent on him less than two years ago as possible.

Furthermore, prior to the start of this season,