Scott McTominay has revealed he felt ‘misprofiled’ at Manchester United, while also discussing his ‘best’ year at the club and his ambition to win more trophies.
McTominay came through the Man Utd academy before making his first-team debut under Jose Mourinho in May 2017. He went on to represent United on 255 occasions, scoring 29 goals and helping the club to win the FA Cup and League Cup.
McTominay was named as a candidate to leave Old Trafford during several transfer windows before departing last summer.
The central midfielder joined Napoli in a £25million deal, a decision which has been described as ‘atrocious’ from United.
McTominay has quickly established himself as one of Napoli’s best performers and has registered seven goals and four assists in 28 games so far.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Athletic, the Scotland international has discussed several aspects of his time at United.
Prior to McTominay’s exit, United debated whether to sack manager Erik ten Hag before eventually handing him a contract extension.
McTominay left before Ten Hag was axed and replaced with Ruben Amorim, but the prior turbulence clearly affected him.
“Things were difficult in Manchester. I didn’t know what was happening exactly. And you instantly know Napoli, the passion of the fans, the quality of the league,” he said.
McTominay continued: “When I got into the [United] first team, I was quite misprofiled in where I was playing.
“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.”
McTominay popped up with several crucial goals for United last term, arguably saving Ten Hag’s job more than once.
The 28-year-old was never viewed as an elite player who could take United back to their former glory, though.
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Scott McTominay was ‘always ready’ for Man Utd
United spent huge sums of money to try and regenerate their midfield while McTominay was at the club, but Ten Hag ended up reverting back to the Lancaster-born ace.
McTominay added: “They would always sign someone who wouldn’t necessarily be what people expected them to be.
“My mentality was that I was always there, ready to go, ready to take my opportunity. 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.”
When asked if being an academy product potentially hindered his progress and led to him being viewed as an improving talent, rather than a senior star, McTominay replied: “I’d not thought of it like that, but that’s potentially true.”
He went on to state he would have loved to help United be more successful before his exit.
“It’s Manchester United. You have to be ready,” he said. “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.”
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