Scott McTominay has shared his thoughts on why some players have improved after leaving Premier League heavyweights Manchester United.
Currently playing at the highest level with Serie A title winner with Napoli, McTominay is one of several stars to have flourished since severing ties with United.
McTominay was a product of the Red Devils academy. The Scotland international was given his big break by Jose Mourinho and he went on to went on to make 255 appearances for United. He scored 29 goals and helped them to FA Cup and League Cup triumphs.
However, after struggling to nail down a regular position, while often being asked to fill a holding role, McTomiany embraced the opportunity to head for Italy in the summer of 2024 – with a £26 million ($35m) transfer being agreed.
Scott McTominay during his playing days at Manchester United. (Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
He has since transformed into one of the best players in his position. His debut campaign in Naples delivered a top-flight title, a career-best return of 13 goals and a history-making Player of the Year prize.
McTominay has also helped to fire Scotland to their first World Cup since 1998.
The likes of Rasmus Hojlund, Marcus Rashford and Antony who also left United are flourishing with their respective clubs.
Quizzed by CBS Sports on why so many of those that stagnated in Manchester have burst into life elsewhere, McTominay said: “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.”
Scott McTominay is enjoying his spell at Napoli. (Photo by Timothy Rogers/Getty Images)
Pressed on whether certain individuals are happy to have escaped the spotlight that they found themselves operating under at United, McTominay added: “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.”
