"It was special. I found out when everyone else did," Mason Mount told a press conference when asked about being named on the Ballon d'Or shortlist.
"To see that, the names, to be alongside those names it's obviously a dream. For all the years you work hard, dedicate, and see something like that, it shows that everything pays off. It's just the start. It doesn’t stop now.
"I doubt it, but you never know," Mount laughed when asked about his chances to win the award.
"The most important thing for me is that I continue to keep trying to hit the levels I have set before and go even further. That’s always been my mentality and hopefully that continues."
Mason is probably right to view himself as an underdog in the Ballon d'Or race: his Chelsea teammates Jorginho and N'Golo Kante have a better chance to win it, and that's not mentioning Leo Messi or Robert Lewandowski.
Still, getting on a 30-man shortlist is already quite an achievement for the 22-year-old. It should not be Mount's last nomination either, considering how he has developed in the last couple of years.
