Mount and Tomori tell how Lampard has finally given kids confidence to break Chelsea’s glass ceiling
MASON MOUNT and Fikayo Tomori are breaking the glass ceiling which has halted so many Chelsea dreams over the past 20 years.
Hundreds of the world’s most-talented youngsters graduated through the Stamford Bridge academy — only to find their progress blocked by the club’s imported superstars.
But the days of promising kids spending years on loan at feeder clubs before being quietly off loaded finally appear to be over.
Both Mount and Tomori believe that change of policy is down to new manager Frank Lampard.
It was only a year ago both were on loan at Derby, helping Lampard to dump Manchester United out of the Carabao Cup.
Now they are hoping to repeat that feat this evening — this time as Chelsea and England team-mates.
Midfielder Mount, 20, revealed: “When I was 14, my dad told me I should leave Chelsea.
“There are so many good players in the academy and a lot of people were saying not many youngsters ever get to make it here.
“That was the discussion we had but I told him that I’d be the first graduate to make it since John Terry — because it was always my goal to play for Chelsea and I didn’t want to go anywhere else.
“I loved the competition and I think the fact that Fik and myself both worked for Frank last season gave us a bit of an advantage for coming into pre-season.
“Having an English manager who knows all the young English players coming through the academy has given both of us that confidence to go out and perform.”
Centre-back Tomori, who has also been at Chelsea since he was at primary school, admits it has not always been easy to catch the manager’s eye.
He explained: “It was difficult to have much personal contact with the previous managers.
“The only time they’d get to have a look at you would be pre-season — when there were so many players all coming back from loans.
“But now we have a manager who knows the youth-team players and understands what it takes to be here at Chelsea.
“He’s given us the opportunity — but it was still down to us to take it.
“We could easily have come back for pre-season and not trained well, instead we’ve worked hard to get into the team and now we have to keep doing that to keep improving.”
Tomori, 21, admits he shared a high-five with Mount when it was confirmed in the summer that Lampard would be taking over from Maurizio Sarri as Blues boss.
But Mount added: “The manager tells us that we’re not going to be given a chance just because we’re young. We have to earn it.
“But the fans have been calling for young English players for a long time — and the backing they’ve given us makes us all want to give that extra yard on the pitch. People wrote us off at the start of the season and said we wouldn’t do well without new signings.
“So we just need to keep proving them wrong.”
Mount scored in Derby’s 8-7 penalty shootout victory at Old Trafford last season, while Tomori was due to take the next spot-kick when keeper Scott Carson saved from defender Phil Jones.
That set up a fourth-round trip to Chelsea for the on-loan duo — who were not expecting to play in the tie at Stamford Bridge.
Tomori recalled: “I had been on loan at Hull the previous season with Michael Hector and Ola Aina when we drew Chelsea in the FA Cup and we weren’t allowed to play in that game.
“So when we Derby got Chelsea last season, I told Mason, ‘Listen, it’s not happening’.
“But then the manager told us, ‘I’ve been pulling a few strings for you — and you’re allowed to play against Chelsea’.
“And it was a very weird feeling because when we played at Stamford Bridge in the Youth Cup, we walked into the tunnel and turned right instead of left — I’d never seen the away dressing room before.”
But things did not quite work out that night for Tomori, who scored a fifth-minute own goal as Chelsea scraped a nervous 3-2 win and the home fans cheered for Lampard and his two young Blues brothers.
Tomori smiled: “I just tried to get in early with the fans with that own goal.
“I was thinking, ‘This could only happen to me,’ and even at half-time there was still so much going on in my head.”
Mount admitted: “It was such a big moment for the manager to come back to the Bridge — and it was surreal playing against friends who would be our team-mates the following season.”
Mount and Tomori, who first played together six years ago and were team-mates when Chelsea won the 2016 FA Youth Cup, are now key contributors to the Blues’ seven-match winning streak.
They have been joined in the squad by fellow academy graduates Tammy Abraham, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Reece James and Marc Guehi — while Ruben Loftus-Cheek is now nearing a comeback from a ruptured Achilles last season.
Tomori said: “You can see a lot of young players emerging all around the country this season and even in the England squad.
“Jadon Sancho, James Maddison, Marcus Rashford, Trent Alexander-Arnold — there are so many young players taking their chances and showing it’s not a bad thing to give us an opportunity.”
Mount added: “In the last England squad we had me, Fik, Tammy and Ross Barkley.
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“Callum got the call-up last year and he was on fire when he got injured, maybe Reece could be in with a shout by the time of next year’s Euros.
“We are feeding off each other and that gives us a fearlessness.
“There is always pressure playing for a massive club like Chelsea — but coming through the system with a lot of familiar faces helps a lot.”
