Mason Mount wants to emulate Manchester United icons Cristiano Ronaldo and David Beckham after being handed the No.7 shirt they wore with such distinction.
Mount, who joined United from Chelsea in a £60million deal, revealed he was inspired by the formidable free-kick techniques of Ronaldo and Beckham.
England midfielder Mount was at Old Trafford as a nine-year-old Portsmouth fan in 2008 when Ronaldo scored a stunning long-range free-kick past David James.
The following day, Mount was filmed at Chelsea's youth academy, explaining how Ronaldo had inspired him with his free-kick technique and trying to emulate the United star.
Now a United player himself, Mount, 24, admitted he would love to match Ronaldo's free-kick heroics at the Theatre of Dreams.
“I had a lot of inspirations,” said Mount.
“Looking at Ronaldo, I loved watching him play and his free-kicks.
“Becks was also a massive inspiration of mine, growing up with his free-kicks, and I was in awe of his technique.
“So yeah, I've had a lot of inspiration from many players. But you take a little inspiration from different parts of their games and try to put it into yours.”
Reflecting on Ronaldo's iconic free-kick against Pompey, Mount said: “I was there in the away end, supporting my team Pompey, and was able to witness that special moment.
“I think that video of me taking the free-kick in training was after that day.
“So it inspired me. And seeing that special moment at Old Trafford, I was in the away end.
“As I said, I was in awe of that situation and that iconic moment. So, I'd love to now replicate it.”
Discussing how his move to United came about, Mount added: "I think, over the last several months, it became clear that I wasn't in the plans moving forward [at Chelsea] and, once I knew that United were involved, my decision was made up.
"It’s a massive club with huge, iconic players that have played here.
"I wanted to be a part of that from from the beginning. And obviously getting in early, ready for pre-season to start, was a main objective of mine as well."
"The most important thing for me was getting there, being ready on day one and being able to obviously meet all the players, the manager, and get working.
"We've got a big season ahead and we want to win trophies, we want to be successful. So, yeah, it was really big for me to be here on day one and get going straight away."
