Former Scotland manager Alex McLeish has revealed the key role that Jose Mourinho played in ensuring that ex-Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay did not end up representing England.
Scott McTominay was born in Lancaster and his father is of Scottish descent, with the former Manchester United star coming through the Red Devils’ youth academy.
Jose Mourinho was in the Old Trafford hot seat as United manager when the 29-year-old McTominay was brought into the Red Devils first-team squad at the club.
Alex McLeish, who had two separate spells as Scotland manager, recalled how Mourinho’s warning prompted him to travel from Edinburgh to meet McTominay.
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Scott McTominay during the warm-up prior the Europa League match between Manchester United and Real Sociedad at Old Trafford in 2022 in Manchester, England.
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Alex McLeish endured an ‘awful’ train ride on the back of Jose Mourinho’s advice about ex-Man Utd talent Scott McTominay
During his rise at Manchester United, Napoli midfielder Scott McTominay had the option to play for either England or Scotland at international level.
Jose Mourinho has held McTominay in high regard after giving the Scot his Man Utd debut and the ‘Special One’ was looking out for his interests with Scotland as well.
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Speaking to FourFourTwo magazine, Alex McLeish said: “Jose Mourinho had said I should come to Manchester to talk to Scott before England got him.
“I hopped on the train from Edinburgh, but storms held us up somewhere in North East England and the train was abandoned in the end. It had been an awful journey.”
McLeish, who was in his second spell as Scotland manager, weathered the storm and managed to make it to England to meet McTominay for talks about his future.
The 67-year-old former Rangers manager was left in complete awe at the “big presence” of McTominay when the ex-Man Utd talent arrived in front of him.
“Eventually, I arrived at something like 4.30 in the morning, having to get up the next day to meet them,” he continued.
“Luckily, I could join for lunch rather than breakfast. When Scott walked in, he was such a big presence, and you could tell there was a player there.”
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McTominay has become a key player for Scotland and the ex-Red Devils midfielder has scored 14 times and registered four assists in 67 matches for the country.
The Napoli player was only 21 years old when he started playing for Scotland, with none other than McLeish handing McTominay his international debut in 2018.
McLeish explained that overcoming the English weather on his Edinburgh train trip paid off when he managed to secure the ex-United star’s international allegiance.
“I just said to him, “‘Obviously, you would like to play at international level, can it be for Scotland?’” McLeish added.
“He [McTominay] replied, ‘Yes, 100 per cent.’ It was worth the trip!”
Scotland ace McTominay, who left Old Trafford and signed for Napoli in 2024, is expected to play a key role for Steve Clarke’s men at this summer’s World Cup in North America.
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