Former Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas has heaped praise on Mason Mount after his impressive performance against Rennes on Tuesday night.
Mount was sublime in the Blues' Champions League win at Roazhon Park in France, laying on an impressive assist for Callum Hudson-Odoi's opening goal.
The youngster has played every minute in all but three league matches this season and has scored one goal and provided four assists, despite Chelsea's huge outlay on Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner and Kai Havertz this summer.
Fabregas, who is now at Monaco following his departure from Chelsea in 2019, declared Mount's performance 'fantastic' on Twitter.
Mount was grateful for the compliment, replying to the two-time Premier League champion: 'Thanks magician, been watching your assists'.
The 21-year-old has recently been criticised by fans of the England national team, who believe Gareth Southgate is denying Aston Villa's Jack Grealish a bigger role by playing Mount.
Frank Lampard, who also managed Mount during his one season on loan at Derby County, demanded the criticism must stop and offered his support to the young midfielder after Tuesday night's game.
The Chelsea boss told BT Sport: 'I have a good relationship with Mason. Not as close as some people think and he knows that I'm there if he wants any guidance.
'With Mason there's been talk and it's got to go away. I'm lucky to know him well at Derby in his breakthrough season in the Championship and he's been outstanding with the way he works off the ball.
'I'm not going to undermine that and he has all the attributes to arrive high up the pitch and score more goals and make more assists.
'It's the modern world with social media and for me the way Mason plays he knows how good he is. We all have opinions. Let's talk about how good Mason is and let's let him get on with it.
'The assist like he made tonight was top-class. I've got good options in midfield and you see Kai Havertz doing well despite being in isolation and we have to keep competition high in that area.'
BT Sport pundit Joe Cole, who also works as an academy coach at Chelsea, also called for fans to stop criticising Mount over his displays.
Cole said: 'When you see people criticising Mason Mount, who are they? Because he's been sublime from the start of the season.'
After frustrating England fans by selecting Mount over Grealish in the past two international breaks, both players started all three of England's matches in November.
Mount helped the Blues qualify for the Champions League knockout stages with victory at Rennes. It remains to be seen whether he will feature in Sunday's mammoth clash with Jose Mourinho's Tottenham at Stamford Bridge.
popoola2693
593
fabregas follow Chelsea more then Monaco
RaiyanHasib
548
Mason shuts his haters on the pitch, he faced a lot of criticism but managed to come stronger. Best of luck for this season 💙
waeamnrz
491
Simply the best. Mount proving that Epl rivals will have a mountain to climb as they will not survive mount assists
Deran
420
Truthfully saying mount is an integral part to Chelsea’s build up and progress... like lampard said the lad is every coach dream player because of his work rate with or without the ball... When mount is playing Chelsea are always lively and dangerous, so what are we criticizing him for? He can shoot, moves very fast with ball, press very hard and also assists more than other midfielders. Let’s just enjoy the boy play and wish him Goodluck.
Becabeiopr
403
I was one who doubted Mason for sometime due to how childish he sometimes play but for this season he is becoming one of Chelsea reliable midfielders and I think he deserves respect from fans..
Nesaiknruy_Legend
272
Mount was never there to score overhead kicks or do saucy flicks and tricks. Hes essentially the heart of that midfield. Mount actually remedies the problem that Jorginho brings. J5 slows down the play mostly but Mount in return speeds it up. With Mount on the pitch we move the ball incredibly fast and make advance intricate plays that I'm surprised our fans dont pick up on. Those intricate 1-2 passee through the opposition always have Mason Mount involved. He is the perfect midfielder for transitions and that's why when hes in the 8 he is Chelsea best number 8. Before anyone pipes up, Kai is a creative 8 or 10 but he cant do what Mason does, only Hakim Ziyech if converted would do a job there. Mason Mount is carrying out an advance role, he can do all the hollywood passes and special tricks but abandoned them in order to follow the coaches leadership and carry out the role assigned, such maturity at 21 is very rare. This is why subconsciously all the haters treat him like a seasoned pro in their prime while treating other kids in his bracket as the young players, cos without knowing theyve felt like hes already a seasoned player at the peak of their career. It's quite frightening actually when you think of it for a young player to be so mature and sacrifice their ability and potential to do a job for the team. His ability to exploit space and pick up good positions as well as to press efficiently and move the ball so rapidly are so underrated. It's no surprise Lionel Messi named him as 1 of his top 10 most talented youngsters, hes a managers wet dream. A young player with actual discipline in their playing.
tiyaciloz
191
Fun fact : Mount haters have disappeared like Griezman's Form.