With less than a year left on his Chelsea contract, eyebrows were raised when Manchester United signed Mason Mount for an initial fee of £55million in July 2023.

United wanted to lower the average of their midfield options that summer and identified Mount as the ideal candidate to help them do so. He arrived at Old Trafford with the expectation of replacing Christian Eriksen in the starting XI.

Mount is eight years Eriksen's junior, meaning he was expected to walk straight into the team and offer United more energy. However, his United career has so far been restricted to just 32 appearances because of a series of injury issues.

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The former Derby County loanee has played just 12 times this season and last featured in the 2-1 win over Manchester City on December 15. He started that triumph at the Etihad Stadium but was forced off with just 14 minutes played.

"Words can't portray how devastated I'm feeling right now," Mount wrote on Instagram a few days later. "You could probably see the look on my face when it happened. I knew what it meant."

The England international has been working hard on his rehabilitation programme at Carrington in recent weeks and head coach Ruben Amorim has said he should play again this season. However, he was unable to put a specific timeframe on exactly when he will be back.

Having been plagued by injuries since arriving at Old Trafford, a lot of United fans have understandably become frustrated with Mount, with some calling for him to be offloaded this summer. However, his recent injury record will put prospective buyers off, particularly when United would want to recoup as close to the £55m they spent on him less than two years ago as possible.

Furthermore, prior to the start of this season, staff at United felt Mount had a false start to his Old Trafford career last term. He arrived at the club as a vastly experienced player that had won the Champions League, despite only being 24 at the time of his arrival.

Of course, another testing season may have changed opinions within the corridors of Old Trafford and Carrington, but Amorim is unlikely to give up on the former Chelsea man, who is under contract until 2028. The Portuguese chief had not even overseen his first match in charge and he made a beeline for praising Mount, who had not played since the end of September prior to his appointment.

Amorim said: "Mason Mount… I have to tell you I love that kid. You can look in his eyes that he wants this so bad. And this is the most important thing for me.

"I know he was suffering from injuries, he was not on the pitch, but now he's trying to stay fit and we hope he can continue to be fit, to show all the talent that he's shown, for example, in Chelsea.

"He played in this system [before], so it's perfect for him. I have two positions for Mason Mount, so he should be very happy."

Mount stepped off the bench in Amorim's opening game in charge away at Ipswich Town and made a further five appearances prior to his latest injury setback. Two of his six appearances under Amorim so far have come as a starter, operating as one of the two No.10s.

The 26-year-old is a versatile operator, comfortable operating as either a No.8 or as a No.10. He was initially signed by United to play as a deep-lying midfielder - a role which he described as his best.

It remains to be seen when he will next be available for selection, meaning it is impossible to predict how big a role he could play between now and the end of the season. But if United progress to the FA Cup final for a third season running and go the distance in the Europa League, they still have 25 games left to play this season.

If Mount can recover within the coming weeks and stay clear of any further setbacks, he could find himself storing a solid number of minutes under his belt before the end of the campaign, with rotation still a theme under Amorim.

His injury record at United cannot be sugar-coated in any way, meaning you would be within your rights not to pin your hopes on Mount recovering and not facing anymore setbacks. However, he could still have a part to play in Amorim's long-term plans.