Mason Mount Eyes European Return as Manchester United Rebuild for 2025/26
- Think Football Ideas
- Aug 1
- 2 min read
Mason Mount Hopes Man Utd Secure A Champions League Spot
There are certain clubs where playing in Europe isn’t viewed as a bonus, it’s a requirement. Manchester United, steeped in continental history and glittered with European nights, find themselves in unfamiliar territory: out of Europe entirely. For a club of that stature, it’s more than a disappointment, it’s a call to arms.
Mason Mount, now preparing for the 2025-26 season, isn’t brushing over that reality. With clarity and ambition, the midfielder laid out the team's priorities heading into the 2025/26 campaign.
"Europe is a massive, massive thing for us,” he told BBC Sport during United’s pre-season preparations in the States. “The Champions League would be amazing for us, and as a group, we want to be playing in that competition. But I'd say Europe. I think that's the focus.”
For Mount, and arguably for most players donning the United badge, qualifying for Europe is the non-negotiable goal. It’s also personal. After battling injuries and struggling to gain rhythm over the last two seasons, Mount looks eager to reclaim his influence under Ruben Amorim. But more than personal redemption, it's the club's trajectory that’s under the microscope.
Last season’s 15th-place league finish, which was their lowest in Premier League history, was the kind of nosedive that sent shockwaves through English football. The defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final only deepened the wound, confirming Old Trafford would sit silent on European midweeks for the first time in over a decade.
United’s hierarchy, clearly stung, have flexed their financial muscle again. Over £125 million has already been spent this summer. Matheus Cunha arrives with flair and urgency, while Bryan Mbeumo adds dynamism to a frontline that lacked imagination last term.
But spending alone doesn’t fix the foundational issues that haunted the Red Devils throughout the 2024-25 campaign. Linked transfers continue to swirl, most notably involving Ollie Watkins and Benjamin Sesko, names that would excite any fanbase.
If United are going to climb back into Europe and perhaps even the Champions League, it will require more than marquee signings. The focus Mount talks about must become an identity, not a slogan.
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