Mason Mount will give Manchester United what they missed in midfield last season

In the Wembley sunshine it was a tiring exercise just watching Manchester United's midfield, never mind playing in it. Against Manchester City's metronomic treble winners, the players in red couldn't get close for large periods of the game.

If the cup final was the moment Erik ten Hag went from lukewarm to cold on David de Gea, maybe it was also the moment the idea of signing another midfielder crystallised in his mind. United's starters that day were Casemiro, 31, Christian Eriksen, 31, and Fred, 30. Bruno Fernandes, on the wing at Wembley, turns 29 in September. United's midfield was experienced, but it was also ageing.

The addition of Eriksen on a free transfer last summer was a shrewd bit of business, but he looked to tire as the season went on and, either side of the ankle injury that kept him out for three months, probably started more than expected. So while a striker looked like the top priority this summer and a goalkeeper has become a pressing issue, an injection of energy in midfield was also vital and they don't get much more energetic than Mason Mount. The 24-year-old will lower the average age of that area of the pitch for United.

Mount fits the bill as a Ten Hag player in terms of his industry and his ability to press. The United manager was taken by the then 18-year-old during his loan spell with Vitesse Arnhem in 2017/18 and tried to borrow him for Ajax the following season. Five years on, he finally has his man.

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Ten Hag spent most of last summer fixated on Frenkie de Jong, a midfielder he felt would connect his team but who proved unattainable. Casemiro has shored up the midfield, but a little extra quality was necessary.

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