Scott McTominay gave a telling answer when asked about players who have left Manchester United to achieve things at their new clubs.
The midfielder left Old Trafford in 2024 to sign for Serie A side Napoli, and has since gone to take his career to impressive new heights. Scoring 13 goals and providing six assists in all competitions in 2024/25 helped Antonio Conte's side capture a fourth Scudetto in their history, while he's also played a crucial part in Scotland qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
Finishing 18th in the running for the 2025 Ballon d'Or, McTominay is just one example of players thriving after moving on from the Red Devils. Rasmus Hojlund has hit a similar patch of form in Italy, scoring seven goals in all competitions, while both Marcus Rashford and Antony, who is regarded as one of the club's worst ever signings, are enjoying fruitful spells in Spain with Barcelona and Real Betis.
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McTominay Disagrees That Players Get Better After Leaving Man Utd
The number of individuals who succeed after leaving United has made many question whether it's the club that's the problem, not the squad, especially given their struggles at points under Ruben Amorim. And that notion was put to McTominay in an interview with CBS when discussing his success in Italy.
However, the 29-year-old didn't agree with Kate Abdo's suggestion, stating: "It's too easy of an excuse to say, 'Oh they left Man United and now they're doing well.' In my last year, I did well — I scored 10 goals and we won a trophy.
"With Marcus, obviously there were different issues which might have transpired that we won't go into. However, Marcus is a top player and he's always been a top player, he's one of the club legends, he's scored so many goals for Man United, done so many great things.
"Because the spotlight is directly on you, it makes it seem a lot worse in my opinion. Obviously, when players go away and they play more games, they're going to have an increase in confidence and feel better about themselves rather than playing less minutes at Man United for example.
"But when you are at Man United, you have to earn those minutes like Bruno Fernandes, who has done incredible."
Then asked whether a change of environment is perhaps what players need if struggling in that spotlight, McTominay said: "Potentially yeah, but there are also some players who leave who people don't speak about so much. But there also players who everyone speaks about.
"It depends on the individual and for me, I think it's too easy an excuse to blame Man United as a club. Because whenever I was there, they did everything for me. They helped with my nutrition, training, tactically — everything is put there for you to succeed. It's not like they don't give you certain things that other clubs do.
"The myth of they go away and they're better players comes down to confidence. If you go away and you play every single game and you score, and then you score again, and then people start speaking, you feel good about yourself and you want to continue in that way.
Check out McTominay's Interview Below: