Mount's rebirth can help kick-start the Amorim era

When Ruben Amorim is not describing Manchester United's team or season as one of the worst in their history, he is prone to gushing about the player deemed by some to be one of the club's worst buys.

- RICHARD JOLLY

The £55m they committed on Mason Mount had bought United problems: a footballer who was almost certainly unsellable due to a combination of his high wages and injuryprone nature, a man whose first 41 games in their iconic No 7 shirt had produced a solitary goal.

That, at least, is no longer true. Calling it the best week of Mount’s United career is not actually saying much – there is precious little competition for that title – but he now has three goals in two games. His quartet of strikes came in two pairs: the first one away at Brentford, in separate seasons, the next two at home to Athletic Bilbao, in the space of 20 minutes.

“A night I have been waiting a long time for,” he said after United set up a Europa League final against Tottenham. It was capped in spectacular style, Mount finding an empty net from 50 yards. In the context of United’s 4-1 win, after going behind, his first had more significance. So, too, in the context of Amorim’s gameplan: Mount’s deft turn in cramped confines in the penalty area and precise shot, curled into the corner of the net, showed an accuracy his goal-shy side have lacked in the Premier League.