For all players, taking the pitch at Old Trafford is a unique experience, but for the Manchester United players who can call it home, it must be even more remarkable.

Many have gone on to achieve success, while others have had less than ideal times with the club; the United supporters frequently recall a player’s initial impression.

fans of Manchester United
With the exception of Andre Onana, Erik ten Hag hasn’t had much success with his acquisitions; all of them have had at least one injury since arriving.

One man in particular, though, has had a difficult start to his Red Devils career.

Mason Mount’s initial thoughts
Mason Mount was the focus of a summertime struggle between Man United and Liverpool, two fierce rivals who were both keen to get him. The Chelsea player earned the respect of the United supporters when he abandoned the Merseyside team and joined the Red Devils, as seen by his actions.

Ten Hag was charged a hefty £60 million price by the England international, which surprised and delighted people at United, especially after Ten Hag was given the coveted number seven shirt.

Masonry, Mount Man, Unity
Speaking to talkSPORT, former United legend John O’Shea expressed his personal admiration for the acquisition, saying, “It’s a fantastic addition and he will add to the goals in terms of creating and scoring them himself too.”

But after seeing Mount in the team’s opening two games, content producer Mark Goldbridge wasn’t nearly as impressed by the signing:

Ten Hag needs to pull off this Mount signing. It simply appears perplexing at this point and detrimental to what we were creating last season.

Mason Mount’s current season
It was unexpected to see Mount leave Stamford Bridge because he was a Chelsea fanatic before joining United. In 195 appearances for his childhood team, he scored 33 goals and provided 37 assists.

The 25-year-old was praised greatly by United icon Roy Keane in 2021, who compared him to Red Devils great Paul Scholes.

“He plays the game almost like Paul Scholes; he has an easy time with it and plays like a child on the street.” Excellent initial impression, appears to be a sincere young man, have a purpose, and can help.

Paul, Scholes, Wayne, and Rooney
After going through a difficult period, Mount has yet to demonstrate that for his new club in the present. Just eight Premier League games for United have seen the midfielder participate, four of which he has started, with half of those games occurring in the season’s first two weeks.

Since then, the most of the campaign has seen him out of commission. Writer Casey Evans has referred to him as the “new Donny van de Beek,” who is now on loan at Eintracht Frankfurt.

Sky-Sports Initial Thoughts
When they came, what did fans and commentators alike think of their new star signing? The ‘First Impressions’ segment on Football FanCast contains all the information you want.

Similar to Mount, who has mostly played attacking midfield throughout his career, the Dutchman struggled to establish himself in the United team because of the presence of a certain Bruno Fernandes, who kept him from getting consistent playing time.

The former Ajax player, who signed a £35 million contract back in 2020, had only scored twice in 62 appearances in all competitions prior to leaving in January. He had never quite bounced back from a difficult start to life in Manchester, when he started only four league games in his rookie year.

Mount’s history of injuries

Time of year

harm

Missed games

23/24

Not sure

16

23/24

Not sure

Six

22–23

Pelvic

7.

22–23

Pelvic

5.

22–23

Make a knock

1.

Statistics from Transfermarkt

Given that Ten Hag is delaying his comeback, Mount may be headed in a same direction after missing 22 games already this season due to two injuries.

The former loanee from Derby County has faded into obscurity, but his injury problems during the previous campaign, coupled with the fact that he hasn’t started a game for Chelsea in nearly a year, should have raised red flags for the Old Trafford recruiting squad.

Although Mount’s United career is still very early and he has lots of time to improve, his initial impression has been very different from what was expected in the summer.