MASON MOUNT has learned how to avoid getting burned — literally — by Jorginho.
The England star revealed how his Italian pal at Chelsea used to wind him up by putting a hot stud on his legs in training.
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Now Mount and his Three Lions team-mates must stop the prankster from dominating the midfield in Sunday’s Euro 2020 final.
And one of the Chelsea duo will become only the tenth player to win the Champions League and Euros in the same season.
Mount said: “When we go out to training there’s this big microwave which heats boots up so that when you put them on it feels nice and it’s not tough and hard.
“Some of the boys put their boots in that and when you have studs that are metal and take it out, they get boiling hot.
“So when he walks out and everyone is putting their boots on he puts a hot stud on your leg. It burns!
“He’s done that a couple of times to me, he did it in that first season when I had come back.
“But I know the drill now and I look out for it.”
Mount is no longer an easy target for training ground antics like he perhaps once was.
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When he returned to Stamford Bridge from two year-long loans at Vitesse Arnhem and Derby, he was a 20-year-old untested at the highest level and Jorginho was an established £50million midfielder.
Now the Englishman is Chelsea’s player of the year after a season in which they won the Champions League and is as important to club and country as Jorginho, if not more.
Mount said: “He’s a prankster. I get on very well with him.
“I’ve been with him for two seasons and he’s a very nice guy and someone I spend a lot of time with.
“But I’m going to be playing against him and we’re not team-mates any more.
“I appreciate him a lot. He’s very good on the ball and gets the team ticking.
“I know a lot more about him than some of the other boys who are in the group, so I can give a few tips about what he’s strong at.”
Assuming Mount retains his place and position for Sunday’s final, an important part of his job will be to disrupt Jorginho’s ability to receive and distribute the ball.
Mount said: “To have this chance after winning the Champions League, it’s such a special opportunity, one that rarely comes around.
“I’m not really looking into it too much. It’s just focusing on the game and what happens happens.”
Unlike most of his England team-mates, Mount knows what it is like to be crowned European champions with his country as well.
In 2017, he and keeper Aaron Ramsdale were part of the Three Lions’ side that beat Portugal in European Under-19 final.
Mount, who was named player of the tournament, said: “Aaron was out there and we even talk about it now, going through that experience with someone you have that bond, that connection.
“You have that for life. So at any level, when you win something for your country, it’s special.”
Mount’s experience of winning this year’s Champions League, after the pain of losing successive FA Cup finals with Chelsea, will be vital.
He added: “To have that win under my belt in a final, in a big game, I think it really helps going into a final now and going into a tournament especially.
“But a lot of the boys are very experienced players that have been in the big games and know how to handle it.
“The last game we played was probably the biggest game of our lives and now it’s even bigger.
“You see the run Italy have been on, it is 30-something games unbeaten.
“You know how strong they are from the back, two centre-backs who are warriors, and throughout the team you see how passionate they are, so they are like a machine.
“For us, what we have been doing, going into every game fearless, having that desire to want to win, that young hungriness that we have, we have to bring it all and be at the top of our game and at the top level to win the game. It’s going to be a battle.”
The battle between Chelsea’s Mount and Jorginho could be key to who lifts the trophy come Sunday evening.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
