In an unprecedented season built on the talents of Chelsea's vibrant young academy stars, Mason Mount was arguably the Blues' player of the season.
With 53 appearances, Mount made the most outings of any Chelsea player this season and was key to the side's relative success in trying circumstances.
Mount has worked hard to achieve his dream of playing regularly at Stamford Bridge and spoke of his experiences in Chelsea's youth system as integral to his current and future progress.
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The road to success
The trophy-driven Chelsea were given some small reprieve from the relentless hunt for silverware in order to give new boss Frank Lampard time to bed in during his first season in charge.
A transfer ban and losing Eden Hazard were the only excuses to be made and the 2020 FA Cup runners-up proved doubters wrong in achieving qualification for next season's UEFA Champions League.
But Chelsea are under no illusions that, after the additions of Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech, they will be under pressure to show signs of real progress.
Mount believes the parts are in place for this to be achieved.
He said: "There are things we have to work on to get better but we are on the right path, we are driven to win trophies, to really step up our game. We have shown this season that we are capable of doing that."
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Declan Rice
Mount is good friends with West Ham United defensive midfielder, Declan Rice.
Rice, formerly of Chelsea, has been linked with a move back to West London and the club he was released from at the age of 14 to try and solve some of the defensive problems the Blues faced during Lampard's first season.
Chelsea conceded 54 goals in the league alone, more than any other team in the top of half of the table. Both the Blues' current defenders and the attacking system employed by Lampard have faced criticism and reports suggest that many at Cobham feel Rice can be the answer.
Mount spoke of the impact Rice leaving Chelsea had on him: "When Dec left it did affect me a lot at the time. I knew as one of my closest friends that that wouldn’t be the end of him and he would work as hard as he could to get where he is."
"My dad always had questions [about staying at Chelsea] because there weren’t all that many young players coming through into the first team," he said.
"JT [John Terry] was the only one who really came through and had an unbelievable career."
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Replicating Lampard
An English goal-scoring midfielder, the comparisons Mount has drawn to current boss Lampard were inevitable.
The 21-year-old notched up seven goals in 37 Premier League appearances, a respectable return, but Mount will be hoping to increase his tally in future seasons.
"The gaffer has been there and done it," said Mount. "He knows when to put his arm around you and he knows when to tell you that you need to improve on something or look at this in your game and see where you can do better.
"Lampard was notorious for his work ethic on the training ground and it is something the young Portsmouth-born star believes in mirroring.
"I always believed that I would make it to the first team, through hard work and determination and I didn’t let anybody get in the way of my focus."
