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“I have to tell you, I love that kid.”

Ruben Amorim’s first public observations on Mason Mount after his appointment as Manchester United head coach just over a year ago have stood the test of time.

It has taken longer than hoped for United’s fanbase to come to the same conclusion, but Mount’s goal and overall performance at Wolves last week had them purring.

Suddenly, the hole left by the impending departure of Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo to the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) doesn’t look quite so difficult to fill.

Mount’s game intelligence plus his awareness and ability to play in tight spaces are coming to the fore. Now the phrase most used about him is: “His quality was never in doubt.”

Almost two and a half years into the five-year contract he signed in July 2023, Mount’s own bold declarations about the future have some meaning.

“I am hugely ambitious,” he said on his arrival at Old Trafford. “I know how amazing it feels to win major trophies and what it takes to do it.

“I will be giving everything to experience that again at Manchester United.”

A Champions League and Club World Cup winner with Chelsea, Mount was an injury-time substitute for United’s 2024 FA Cup final victory over Manchester City. He started the Europa League final defeat by Tottenham in May and was part of the United squad that finished 15th.

Not that the 26-year-old regrets leaving boyhood club Chelsea.

Speak privately to people who know Mount well and you get the impression restoring United’s fortunes offered the kind of challenge that enthused him.

Under Erik ten Hag at the time, the club made it clear they wanted him. That matters. It still does. That is why Amorim’s first words were perfectly put.

As the former Sporting coach assessed the squad he was inheriting, he knew in Mount he was getting a high-level, flexible player who could fit into a variety of different positions within his system, something Amorim felt he did not have enough of.

Left, right, as an orthodox number 10, as a six, or an eight, Mount has a range of experiences that make him very useful for a coach who regards adaptability as a key weapon.

“He’s a very smart player,” was Amorim’s response when asked about Mount on Friday before Monday’s Premier League game with Bournemouth. “He’s really technical.

“Sometimes being a technical player is not just having fun with the ball. It’s the quality of the pass, the reception, how to receive the ball. Mason can balance our team quite well.”

Amorim is not alone at United’s Carrington training ground in recognising Mount’s qualities. He is certainly not the only one genuinely glad a player who can offer so much is able to put injury issues to one side and deliver performances on a consistent basis.

No-one would argue the past couple of years have been easy. Mount himself has admitted dealing with two extended absences and a couple of smaller frustrating ones was tough.

But staff around Carrington admired the professional attitude Mount adopted throughout his various recoveries.

Training-ground sources have said the player left no stone unturned in pursuit of staying fit and was regularly one of the last to leave after long stints in the ice bath and sauna sessions.

He is regarded as a link within Amorim’s squad – someone who knits groups of players together – which has been particularly evident this season when, it is generally acknowledged, United’s players have remained tight and focused on delivering better results.

Mount is also well liked by non-football staff because he is helpful, which is not something that can be taken for granted in the playing department at United or any other club. He spends time with a couple of kids who are regulars outside the training ground, has spoken with them and their parents and still wears a bracelet one of them gave him.

These traits are all positives on a human scale.

However, in the pressurised world of the Premier League, they are side issues compared to delivering on the pitch – and just now, he is on a roll.

Outstanding in the win at Crystal Palace on 30 November, Mount followed up with an excellent performance against Wolves, who were admittedly poor at Molineux but proved they can be obdurate and diligent in their unlucky loss at Arsenal.

Goals in both victories have taken his overall tally for United to seven, to match his shirt number, a fact not lost on the club’s content creators who put them all on the app and launched a vote for which was the best. His second in the Europa League semi-final against Athletic Bilbao – a two-touch, 50-yard effort to seal a 4-1 win – came out on top.

Mount won the most recent of his 36 England caps in the 2022 World Cup quarter-final defeat by France in Qatar.

Despite three years without an international appearance, Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel has not forgotten him.

Mount revealed in the summer his former manager at Chelsea had been in touch. The pair were spotted chatting after last month’s home defeat by Everton and while competition for World Cup places is fierce and Mount is rated as unlikely to break in at this stage, it cannot entirely be discounted.

The player himself is not setting that as a target. Sources say his focus and drive remains on delivering on those first words following his arrival from Chelsea.

Mount recognises turning the United tanker around has to be a collective effort but there are signs it is heading in the right direction, even if the process is lengthy and not without the odd glitch.

He clearly has a significant role though. Mount has missed one game so far this season though injury. His impact is starting to be felt.

England have overlooked spinner Shoaib Bashir for the crucial third Ashes Test against Australia in Adelaide.

The tourists, who need to win to keep alive hopes of regaining the urn, have made one change from the team beaten in the second Test in Brisbane.

As expected, Josh Tongue replaces fellow pace bowler Gus Atkinson.

It is the omission of 22-year-old Bashir that is most striking for a Test where spin is likely to play an important role.

England have instead retained all-rounder Will Jacks after he played his first Test in three years in Brisbane.

It is a huge decision by England captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum for a Test where jobs and reputations could be on the line.

It calls into question the entire experiment involving Bashir, whom England have asked to learn on the job in Test cricket over the past two years.

Bashir’s absence from the first two Tests in Australia has been explained by the conditions.

Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon bowled only two overs in the first Test and then was left out of the second.

But Lyon will return on Wednesday (23:30 GMT Tuesday) on a ground where no other bowler has taken more than his 63 Test wickets, with legendary Australia leg-spinner Shane Warne just behind on 56.

The importance of spin will likely be accentuated by the extreme temperatures forecast in Adelaide – as high as 39C for Thursday’s second day.

England have previously backed Bashir as their frontline spinner, despite him not being the first-choice slow bowler for his county Somerset. Bashir’s deal at Taunton expired at the end of the season and he is yet to sign a new one.

Stokes and McCullum felt Bashir had the attributes to succeed in Australia, mainly a high release point and the ability to extract bounce from the surface.

His performances in an England shirt since making his debut in India at the beginning of 2024 have been a qualified success. Bashir’s 68 wickets in 19 Tests have come at an average of 39, and in May he became the youngest England bowler to reach 50 wickets.

But Bashir has not played for England since breaking his finger in the third Test against India in July. His best moment in an England shirt was also his most recent act – taking the wicket to win that thrilling Test at Lord’s.

But he has struggled in Australia, returning figures of 2-266 in two tour matches. Bashir has also looked short of rhythm in the nets.

England did not select another specialist spinner in their squad – the likes of Rehan Ahmed, Liam Dawson and Jack Leach were overlooked.

It means England will rely on Jacks, primarily a batter and with six first-class wickets this year.

In contrast, Australia can call on Lyon, the 38-year-old who sits seventh on the all-time list of Test wicket-takers with 562. Lyon needs two in Adelaide to leapfrog great Australia seamer Glenn McGrath in sixth.

Speaking before England confirmed their XI, Lyon said: “I would be surprised if their number one spinner is not playing. Will Jacks, I thought he played a pretty decent role in Brisbane with the opportunity he had.

“I’m not really concerned what XI England produce. We’ll worry about what we’re doing, and control what we can control.”

Head coach McCullum previously admitted England were unlikely to make changes to their batting line-up, so Tongue is the only new face from the side beaten in Brisbane.

In the pace department, both teams are likely to rotate in the final three Tests, which are played back-to-back.

Australia will have the luxury of Pat Cummins returning in Adelaide after the captain missed the first two Tests with a back injury.

England’s Atkinson struggled in the first two Tests. His three wickets have come at a cost of 78 runs each and two of them were taken when the second Test was as good as over.

Tongue, 28, has taken 31 wickets in six Tests, including dismissing Australia’s Steve Smith in both innings when he played his only previous Ashes match at Lord’s in 2023.

Meanwhile, England batter Harry Brook has recognised his own shortcomings in the series so far.

Brook made 52 in the first innings of the first Test in Perth, but has not passed 31 in his three other knocks. He said the shots he played to be dismissed in the second innings in Perth and first innings in Brisbane were “shocking”.

“Sometimes I’ve got to rein it in a little bit,” said Brook. “To learn when to absorb the pressure a little bit more and realise when the opportunity arises to put the pressure back on.

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca is unlikely to get any “protection” after making cryptic comments seemingly aimed at the club’s ownership, says former Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney.

The Italian described the build-up to Saturday’s Premier League victory over Everton as “the worst 48 hours” since he arrived at the club in June 2024.

In an extraordinary outburst, the 45-year-old suggested that he and his team had not been supported before refusing to clarify who his comments were directed at.

“For me it was very similar to the Mo Salah situation last week where it was very premeditated,” said the ex England striker on the latest episode of The Wayne Rooney Show, which you can now listen to on BBC Sounds.

“He knows exactly what he is saying and who he is aiming it at and the board and owners at Chelsea will know it is aimed at them.”

Chelsea currently sit fourth in the English top flight but had only taken two points from the previous nine available prior to the weekend with a loss at Atalanta in the Champions League also thrown into that run.

And unlike the very public backing that Ruben Amorim received from Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe earlier this season, Rooney believes that Maresca’s words will have done himself few favours if the club endure any further blips.

“You’ve got to respect the owners of a football club. They employ you and bring you in, so it’s their way and I feel he’s gone a bit against that,” Rooney added.

“It is something that’s clearly happened, whether it’s a disagreement or he feels his job is under pressure and he doesn’t feel it should be because of the two trophies he’s won and the points he’s picked up.

“I don’t feel like he’s a manager that will backtrack. He has got a passion about him and a drive about him. Whether he has heard things, like the club might want him out and he’s been proactive to go on the front foot, you don’t know why he’s done it. It’s very strange.

“I don’t think he’ll get the protection now he’s come out and done what he has done. That will be very difficult for the club to come and protect him, which is a shame.”