Why Mason Mount may be the overdue graduate to shine at Chelsea

While PSV Eindhoven wrapped up the Eredivisie title with room to spare this season, the campaign isn’t over yet as we prepare for the second leg of the Europa League play-offs.

First legs on such occasions can often be cagey affairs but that couldn’t have been less accurate in Holland this season, with FC Utrecht and Heerenveen, and Vitesse and ADO Den Haag playing out seven goal thrillers.

While a number of attacking players caught the eye then, there was no question as to the star of the show across the two midweek matches. Indeed, Vitesse are once again profiting from their partnership with Chelsea, with teenager Mason Mount bagging a first career hat-trick on Wednesday night to give his side a 5-2 advantage heading into the second leg.

The youngster unsurprisingly stars in our team of the round from midweek, earning a perfect 10 WhoScored.com rating.

The England youth international only turned 19 this year and his performances this season suggest that he could yet be the long-awaited academy graduate to shine for the club in the years to come - although Ruben Loftus-Cheek will still be hopeful of making an impact in blue.

Indeed, much is made of Chelsea’s loan policy, and understandably so, but the club’s link with Vitesse in particular has offered a number of promising players a valuable platform to launch their careers. Until now the futures of those players have been away from Stamford Bridge, with Patrick van Aanholt and Bertrand Traore among those to build successful careers since leaving the Londoners.

However, reports suggest that Chelsea are keen to take a close look at Mount following his impending return from the Netherlands before rushing into any decisions regarding his next move.

The midfielder has certainly ended the campaign in superb fashion, with five goals and six assists in his last five appearances meaning that he has had a direct hand in 21 goals (12 goals, nine assists) over the season so far, with two big matches still likely to come.

His composure on the ball and ability to protect it despite a relatively slight frame certainly belies his years but it’s Mount’s vision, along with both his choice and weight of pass that suggests Chelsea could yet have a first team star on their hands.

An average of three key passes per 90 minutes is enough to rank third in the Dutch top-flight, and his confidence is highlighted by figures of 2.7 shots and 1.8 successful dribbles per 90. Those numbers weren’t quite enough to earn a place in WhoScored.com’s Eredivisie team of the season, but a superb overall rating of 7.40 did rank as high as 13th, level with sought after Netherlands prospect and senior international Donny van de Beek.

Of course, there is reason for caution when judging players based on their performances in the Eredivisie given the inferior quality of the league. A hugely frustrating campaign for Lewis Baker on loan at Middlesbrough has proven that the switch in styles between any domestic leagues is not straightforward having himself bagged ten goals on loan at Vitesse last season.

However, Baker was two years older when he was really impressing in Holland, and even then his WhoScored.com rating of 6.96 - a score recorded in back-to-back seasons at Vitesse - paled in comparison to Mount’s this time around.

For Chelsea fans wanting to take a closer look at their top young talent, Vitesse kick-off their play-off second leg at 17:30 this evening. The youngster is one certainly worth tuning in for.