Is Mount the Next Lampard? Youngster showing promising signs of emulating Chelsea icon

Frank Lampard came perilously close to enjoying a fine debut, and only, season at the Derby helm. In May 2018, the former midfielder succeeded Gary Rowett for the Rams, putting pen to paper on a three-year deal. And while a playoff final defeat at the hands of Aston Villa suggested the foundation was in place for bigger and better things for Derby, Lampard left for Chelsea in 2019. 

In truth, it was an appointment that wasn't exactly a bolt from the blue. When it became increasingly clear that Maurizio Sarri, like Lampard with Derby, would spend just the one year in charge at Chelsea, of course the targetted successor was their former legend. And as Lampard returned to Stamford Bridge, so too did two loan stars. 

Fikayo Tomori and Mason Mount both played key roles in Derby's progression to the playoff final and that they have both become prominent members of Lampard's squad isn't a huge shock in itself. Only Harry Wilson (7.01) earned a better WhoScored rating than Mount (6.95) of all Derby players under Lampard as the latter rattled in nine goals. Tomori, meanwhile, made 46 starts in England's second tier. 

It was Mount's return to Chelsea, and the possibility of working under Lampard at Stamford Bridge, that piqued the interest of all supporters. The Blues' youth academy is renowned for being one of the best in the world given the quality of personnel on the books and while it took the appointment of a club legend and a transfer ban for the likes of Mount, Tomori, Reece James and Tammy Abraham to be handed a fair crack of the whip in west London, the quartet are making the most of the opportunity to consolidate a first team spot. 

But for Mount, he had ample pressure on his shoulders to succeed back at Chelsea. The England international was dubbed the next Lampard last year given his knack for arriving late in the box to score, a trait that saw Ross Barkley admit in September: "He is similar to a young Frank Lampard." And on the face of things, it's easy to see why a number of peers and reporters have drawn a similar comparison. Of course it's difficult to fully draw conclusionsat this early stage.

Since Lampard made his Premier League debut with Chelsea back in 2001/02, the game as changed massively, but even so; Lampard scored five league goals from 37 top-flight outings for the Blues. Mount, meanwhile, has six goals from his 29 Premier League appearances, all of which have been scored from inside the penalty area, and it's likely that figure would have risen had football not been postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic. 

Even so, it took until the 2003/04 campaign, Lampard's third full season at Chelsea, for the now manager to reach double figures for goals scored in a league campaign. That's not to say Mount would have scored an additional four goals in the final nine games of 2019/20, but he stood as good a chance of any to net at least 10 Premier League goals this season, which would have been a huge achievement for the 21-year-old in his debut top-flight campaign. 

That being said, Mount has some way to go to matching Lampard's best season in a Chelsea shirt, that coming in 2009/10 where the latter netted 22 goals and provided 14 assists to help return a WhoScored rating of 7.95. It is worth noting, though, that Lampard was 31 when he and Didier Drogba both ranked among the top three best rated players in the Premier League, so Mount has plenty of time on his side. He at least gave it his best shot back in 2017/18, albeit in the Eredivisie, where Mount notched 14 goals and provided nine assists for Vitesse in a campaign that convinced the Blues he needed greater playing time a little closer to home. 

And it was with Derby that it convinced Lampard that Mount had enough to take his game to the next level and he has gone some way to suggest that the comparisons are not completely unjustified. Indeed, Mount is working with the ideal manager to ensure he emulates his hero. "Joining Chelsea at the age of six, Frank was always my idol," Mount said last year. "He was a Chelsea player and an attacking midfielder like me so I always looked up to him. Being with him at Derby was the best thing for me because I couldn’t have anyone else better to learn from day-in, day-out."

The early signs are positive for Mount with Chelsea as the midfielder grasps the opportunity to work under his hero with both hands. Mins per key pass weighs in Lampard's favour since 2009/10 - 38.8 to Mount's 53.5 - so too does mins per shot (26.5 to 33.9) yet the closeness of both numbers, two key traits to Lampard's game, are closer that some may have expected in Mount's first senior campaign. 

And while caution must be applied when stating a player is the heir to a club hero, Mount is on the right path in the perfect environment to ensure he lives up to the billing as the next Frank Lampard.