EPL 2016-17: Ryan Mason joins Hull City
While Mauricio Pochettino is keen to add some much-needed quality to his Tottenham side, his actions in the transfer window so far have indicated that he is also keen on ensuring that all the deadwood at the club is shipped before the window closes in order to have a relevant squad at his hand.
The latest player to have left the club is English midfielder Ryan Mason, who has joined Hull City. While the details of the deal are yet to be made public, it is believed that Mason has cost them more than their previous record signing Abel Hernandez.
This comes hot on the heels of Nacer Chadli’s move to West Brom.
The midfielder, who joined the club as an eight-year-old spent a number of years away from the North London club previously, having spent loan spells at Yeovil Town, Doncaster Rovers, Millwall, Lorient and Swindon Town. While he did impress a number of footballing critics across the nation, he failed to leave his mark during the loan spells and was largely restricted to a bit-part role.
After having featured mainly in the lower leagues, Mason finally became an integral part of the Tottenham first team squad in the 2014-15 season, when he made a total of 37 appearances across all competitions. While many believed he would remain a part of the first team in the subsequent season, it was not to be, as he was restricted to the bench at the White Hart Lane. Given the arrival of Victor Wanyama and the emergence of Erik Dier as a midfielder, the decision of Mason to move away from North London makes perfect footballing sense.
The move to Hull City is believed to be inspired by the hope of finding consistent playing time. His move to the KC Stadium reunites him former Tottenham players Jake Livermore and Tom Huddlestone and the 25-year-old will be keen to follow in the footsteps of his predecessors and become an integral part of the Tigers’ line-up.
"I'm delighted and excited to be here, I can't wait to get started and I see this as a massive opportunity for me,” said Mason in his first interview after joining the club.
Mason is a combative midfielder, who is not afraid to put his body on the line for his team. He possesses a sound understanding of the game and often breaks the opposition’s rhythm with a mix of tackles, interceptions, and harmless fouls. A tidy player in possession, the English international can also add to the creativity of his side with perfectly threaded through balls, disguised passes, and inch-perfect crosses. His abilities on either end of the pitch make him a complete package for Hull City, his new club.
However, like any player, he too has his flaws, which need to be worked upon. The technically sound midfielder has a tendency to lose his concentration during games, giving away fouls in critical positions on the pitch or making defensive errors, thus gifting the opposition with a goal scoring opportunity. Having just gained promotion to the Premier League, Hull will be keen to retain their status as a Premier League team, come the end of the season and Mason will need to remain in the game during its course to ensure that the aforementioned objective is not made any harder in what already promises to be a tough season.
Steve Bruce, the Hull manager has started the season with a 4-3-3 formation and we believe Mason will feature as the deep lying midfielder during the season, lending his side the right balance in the middle of the park.