Scott McTominay claims he was ‘misprofiled’ for much of his Manchester United career as the academy graduate opened up on his reasons for joining Napoli in the summer.
McTominay rose up through the United youth ranks to make over 250 senior appearances for his boyhood club, winning both the League Cup and FA Cup, but was sold to Napoli for £25m in a move the Red Devils are now surely regretting.
He earned the nickname ‘Braveheart’ within a few weeks of his arrival in Naples and has six goals – finding the net in the San Siro, the Olimpico and against Juventus – and four assists in his debut campaign in Serie A as a key cog in Antonio Conte’s Scudetto-chasing side, who are currently three points behind league-leaders Inter Milan.
McTominay says there was an “instant attraction” when he heard of Napoli’s interest amid “difficulties” at United.
“Things were difficult in Manchester,” he told The Athletic. “I didn’t know what was happening exactly. And you instantly know Napoli, the passion of the fans, the quality of the league.”
A number of players who have recently left Old Trafford have enjoyed a significant upturn in their performances, with Marcus Rashford and Antony currently enjoying themselves having left on loan in January, while Anthony Elanga showed his quality to United’s cost on Tuesday.
And McTominay claims he was “misprofiled” for much of his time at United, though doesn’t think anyone in particular is to blame.
“When I got into the first team, I was quite misprofiled in where I was playing,” he said. “It wasn’t the fault of any coaches. My strengths have always been getting into the box, scoring goals, being a problem in there. But I was being used as a No 6, or as a centre-back, and that has never really been my game.
“But when you’re playing for Manchester United and you’re 20, you can’t knock on the manager’s door and say that you expect to be playing at No 8 ahead of Paul Pogba. It’s not realistic. You have to know your place, and do what you’re asked to do. In the last few seasons, I began to get into the box a bit more, to score more goals, and then last year was my best one.”
He was rarely, if ever, considered to be a sure-fire starter at Old Trafford, often lumped in with another midfielder to earn what became a disparaging ‘McFred’ moniker.
He was the victim of annual rebuilds, with Pogba, Christian Eriksen and Casemiro all brought in to fix a midfield that McTominay would inevitably return to by Christmas and be an integral part of the team once again before being deemed not good enough ahead of the summer transfer window.
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“They would always sign someone who wouldn’t necessarily be what people expected them to be,” he added.
“My mentality was that I was always there, ready to go, ready to take my opportunity,” he says. “I always wanted to prove my worth, to show I could play every game. It’s not the sort of thing that affects me. You can only be in control of what you do.”
It was then put to McTominay that he was suffering from being cast as a permanent work in progress having come up through the academy.
“I’d not thought of it like that, but that’s potentially true,” McTominay said.
“It’s Manchester United. You have to be ready. Fans won’t tolerate anyone who isn’t ready. You could play 10 or 40 or 50 games and be moved on, just because you’re not ready at that moment, so you have to go and learn and improve. I was fortunate to play 250 games, to win the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup, but I wanted to win more. You always want to win.”