Raheem Sterling has revealed that Mason Mount shocked his England teammates in training and that the Chelsea attacker produced something he's never seen before.
Mount, who is set to start for the Three Lions in their opening World Cup match against Iran on Monday, football.london understands, hasn't been on top form for the Blues this season but remains a trusted member of Gareth Southgate's squad.
The 23-year-old has only scored two goals this season, both against Aston Villa, and struggled before the domestic break for Graham Potter's side as part of a wider slump for the squad that included Sterling's own dip in form.
READ MORE: Chelsea star Ruben Loftus-Cheek may face anxious World Cup wait amid England injury issue
The former-Manchester City winger is set to play in the tournament opener too, with Arsenal's Bukayo Saka being preferred on the other wing. Sterling hasn't scored a league goal since August though and has only got two under Potter.
The 27-year-old is another trusted member of the 26-man squad as Southgate heads into his third major tournament with doubters to prove wrong, but Sterling remains integral alongside Harry Kane in attack. He has also admitted that Mount surprised everyone with his quality as a teenager when the academy graduate first trained for the Three Lions.
Mount himself drew attention to it, speaking on the Lions' Den for England Youtube, he said "I can't really remember too much about training, it was literally a blur. I've walked in and seen all the senior players, H Kane, it was probably overwhelming at first and I just wanted to get onto the pitch to show what I can do and be confident, which I felt like it was.
"I remember Raz [Sterling], he came up to me and said 'your training is unbelievable' and he's got a story about me training for the first time, ask him about that."
Sterling was then interviewed the next day and honestly assessed Mount's impression on the squad, saying: "Best training performance I've seen to this day. Every time we speak with him after the game or something, we say to him it was the best training performance."
"He joined up with the seniors, he came up from the Under-21s and just came, from Derby at the time, and I'm not exaggerating, left foot, right foot, dribbling, chopping. It was the best training performance. It was the best training performance I've seen to this day. I haven't seen anything that's topped that.
"He's just come into our training session, I'm here, it was the first camp after we came back from the Russia World Cup and he's come up with something incredible. It was top, top."
Mount didn't make his debut until 2019 after he had played for the Blues under Frank Lampard, but he did make a big name for himself after an impressive spell on loan at Pride Park, and that earnt him the respect of his international teammates.
He only played four games for England's Under-21s after being called up in 2018 for his debut, one year later he was a senior member and has played in 32 of the 41 games since his first selection, missing one due to quarantine in Covid-19. He has scored five goals for Southgate including in the last game, a 3-3 draw against Germany.
READ NEXT:
James return, Fofana question - Chelsea's best XI if Potter refines new shape in World Cup break
Eden Hazard dream and Antonio Rudiger regret: Former Chelsea players involved in World Cup
Edouard Mendy breaks silence on Chelsea contract talks amid shock Thomas Tuchel admission
Full list of Chelsea transfer targets going to Qatar 2022 World Cup amid Boehly scouting mission
Chelsea news and transfers LIVE: Latest news, rumours and gossip from Stamford Bridge
