In his exclusive column for CaughtOffside, former Liverpool attacker Stan Collymore discusses some of football’s biggest talking points, including speculation Mason Mount could leave Chelsea, Mykhailo Mudryk’s disappointing first season in the Premier League and which 11 players get in his ‘Team of the Season’, plus much more.
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£85m for Mason Mount? – You’re having a laugh…
If Chelsea’s reported valuation of £85m for Mason Mount is serious, I would certainly not be entertaining that if I was any of the clubs interested. If he really does end up leaving Chelsea for that kind of money, obviously, out of the clubs in the mix to sign him, Manchester United would be favourites because I don’t think Liverpool and Arsenal would go that high when they both have other targets, but as far as I am concerned, he’s not worth that, especially with just one year left on his contract.
If Manchester United do have the resources in the summer window, which they probably will have if they move several players on and get them off the wage bill, then a move to Old Trafford is certainly one I can see materialising, but again, for £85m, it’s not a deal I would be pursuing. I think somewhere around the £40m – £50m mark, potentially with performance-related add-ons, would be a more realistic figure for Mount.
As for the player himself, yes, he’s a Champions League winner and only 24 years old, but I believe he still has to improve certain parts of his game. He has an incredibly high work rate, but he doesn’t impact games as much as he should. He’s nowhere near the finished article and the fact Chelsea aren’t desperate to keep him probably tells you that if they were somehow able to get £85m, many behind-the-scenes at the club would be cartwheeling down the street.
If I was Mount, with the choices on offer, I would choose to move to either Liverpool or Manchester United. Obviously the latter know they will be in the Champions League next season so that may be the deciding factor, but Liverpool will almost certainly be favourites to win the 2023-24 Europa League, so there’s still a lot there for the midfielder to consider.
I’ll judge Mykhailo Mudryk this time next year…
Thursday night at Old Trafford against Manchester United was another disappointing evening for Mykhailo Mudryk.
He’s got outrageous pace and shows a clear willingness to learn and improve, so from that perspective, he deserves the opportunity to get embedded properly in the team, go off, have a holiday, come back for pre-season and go again next season.
The biggest problem he has is trying to live up to his price tag. Chelsea massively overpaid for him; spending £88.5m on a player who had played less than 50 games for Shakhtar Donetsk was a huge gamble. He’s just a baby in terms of professional football – he’s basically a youth player that has only recently been promoted to the first team. If he had come through Chelsea’s academy and endured the same six months, no one would really be questioning it, but the fact he’s been signed for nearly £100m shows just how crazy the transfer was.
Mauricio Pochettino is coming in though and he has a style of football that you would assume will benefit Mudryk, so if the Argentine can’t get a tune out of him and we’re talking about him, in the same way, this time next year, then I think it’ll be time to worry – but as for right now, I think he still has huge potential and next season I do expect him to show vast improvements in his individual game.
The Premier League should steer clear of Neymar…
It looks like Paris Saint-Germain are looking to get rid of Neymar this summer.
There comes a point when a player can become a bit of a circus act, and I think that’s the point Neymar is at now. He’s a luxury player but he has another side to his life which doesn’t do his career any favours – being pictured late at night in McDonald’s after his team just lost a Champions League game for example. He’s also big into poker and that lifestyle definitely clashes with professional football, so I am just not sure how seriously he’s taking the game anymore.
All Premier League sides, especially Manchester United, should steer well clear of trying to sign him. There is absolutely no way Erik Ten Hag will want his weekly press conferences dominated by Neymar-related questions, and that’s exactly what he’d get if the Red Devils did bring him to Old Trafford.
If he leaves Paris this summer, whether that be moving out on loan or permanently, the only realistic destinations I can see for him are the Saudi League or the MLS. I wouldn’t be surprised if Barcelona are thinking about getting the old band back together and therefore want to re-sign Lionel Messi as well as Neymar, but we all know the Spaniard’s financial problems, and getting Messi back to the Nou Camp is the priority, so I don’t see how they could really bring Neymar back as well, even if they wanted to.
So for me, Saudi Arabia, if anywhere, is the most likely destination for the Brazilian. They can pay Neymar a king’s ransom and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him replace Cristiano Ronaldo, who I am sure will finish his career in Europe.
Stan Collymore’s Premier League Team of the Season:
The end of the season is nearly here and it’s been another great campaign. I have thoroughly enjoyed the 2022-23 season – it’s been fiercely competitive throughout the entire table. The title race was enthralling, the race for top four went virtually the distance, there are other European places still to be decided, one of which includes my team Aston Villa vying for a spot in the Europa Conference League, and of course, the relegation battle will be decided on the final day.
So in honour of what has been another successful year for the Premier League, I have deliberated over which 11 players have been the best overall, over the duration of the season. It’s never easy to pick a ‘Team of the Season’, as often there are several players worthy of a spot in the same positions, but I have given it my best shot and I would love to hear from fans who may agree, or better yet, disagree – so don’t be shy, let me know your thoughts in the comments below, or on Twitter.
Stan Collymore’s Premier League Best XI:
GK: Nick Pope (Newcastle United)
RB: Kieran Trippier (Newcastle United)
CB: Sven Botman (Newcastle United)
CB: Ruben Dias (Manchester City)
LB: Pervis Estupinan (Brighton and Hove Albion)
DM: Moises Caicedo (Brighton and Hove Albion)
CM: Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
CM: Martin Odegaard (Arsenal)
LW: Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton and Hove Albion)
RW: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
ST: Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
Manager: Eddie Howe (Newcastle United)*
*Unless Pep Guardiola wins the treble with Manchester City
instead of botman i would go with saliba,but botman also deserved to be there.I think this team is the most accurate ive seen compare to others(cara/nevil etc)