Rangers boss Michael Beale once said he’d “like” former Chelsea Academy kid Mason Mount at Ibrox – but his reasons why it can never happen have just been validated by the midfielder moving to Man United.
Only in April was the the Ibrox manager singing the praises of the 24-year-old England midfielder, who he worked with extensively during his time in the Blues academy.
It’s clear Michael Beale has a close personal relationship with Mason Mount but given the stratosphere the English game is now operating in, Rangers really don’t stand a chance.
The Ibrox gaffer was trying to give a sense of perspective to the club’s transfer business this summer, with managers in Scotland having to be a bit more wily than our neighbours in the megabucks Premier League.
“Do we always get our first choices? No, because I’d like to go and buy Mason Mount from Chelsea because I worked with him and I like him,” explained Michael Beale.
“We always have to take an element of risk. Sometimes we get a broken child, sometimes we get one before he has flourished and we have to help them flourish, whether that is Calvin Bassey, Nathan Patterson or Todd Cantwell from Norwich who was going great guns and then had a few changes of manager.
“No manager in Scotland will ever get to buy the finished article and I think that is why Scotland has over the years produced some fantastic managers because you have got to make the most of a small outlay.
“We always would look first in our league because we want Scottish players within our squad but we play everyone three times, so there are no surprises in terms of people coming through.
“We have to look in our academy here first, then our league and then we branch out. But we have to be realistic. Is the next Brazilian “golden child” coming to Scotland to play for Rangers when there are a lot of other places? So we have to recruit in the right areas.”
Chelsea academy kid Mason Mount lines up Man United move
The comments of Michael Beale have just been validated by the fact that Mason Mount – who has 36 caps and five goals for England – has moved to Man United after the best part of 20 years with Chelsea.
Coming through the Academy in West London, Rangers boss Beale knows all about the qualities of Mason but the notion the Ibrox side can compete with the £55m rising to £60m Man United are set to pay for Mount.
There was a time when Rangers could convince the best England players to Ibrox; Terry Butcher, Ray Wilkins, Mark Hateley and of course Paul Gascoigne have all tread the Ibrox turf.
But it will be a long time before the Rangers of 2023 are in any position to be signing the Mason Mounts of the future and it’s something we’ve been getting used to for a long time.
