Mason Mount and Declan Rice have been mates since they were kids togther in the Chelsea academy.
After starting together as 8 year olds, their paths took the top took very different routes.
Mason was always an academy poster boy, and he went through all the hoops – a youth team star, a loan to Vitesse, a loan to a team managed by Frank Lampard, and then the first team.
Rice on the other hand didn’t even make it the whole way through the Blues youth setup, being let go as a youngster, allowing West Ham to pick him up and bring him through their own system.
They’re still great mates though, as they reveal in this interview in the Independent. They will likely be on opposite teams today for the first time, and they can’t wait. Asked whether he will put in a big tackle on his old friend early doors, Rice can’t deny it’s a possibility.
“If the ball’s there to be won, I have to win it!” the midfielder insisted.
Well, Mason will have to just make sure it’s not there to be won then…
