Scott McTominay left Manchester United for Napoli in the summer of 2024, and former United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has delivered his verdict
Former Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has revealed his shock at the club’s decision to sell academy product Scott McTominay to Napoli. The midfielder sealed his switch to the Serie A giants in the summer of 2024, with United pocketing around £30million for his services.
He has since flourished in Italy and played a crucial role in helping his new club clinch the league title last season. His performances saw him come 18th in the Ballon d’Or rankings.
After breaking through under Jose Mourinho, it was Solskjaer who gave McTominay his most opportunities during his Old Trafford stint. He featured in 115 matches under the Norwegian, finding the net 14 times.
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The former United chief, who left the club back in November 2021, has now shared his views on McTominay’s departure and explained why he perhaps couldn’t unlock his full potential.
“I was almost shocked because you need or want a core of the local lads, ones who get the club. Scott did,” he said on the Stick to Football podcast.
“For me, I think he’s shown in Italy how good of a player he is. His character, personality around the place, he sets the standards and he’d survive when we played 100 per cent.
“He was voted Serie A Player of the Year last year and won the league with Napoli so he’s one of them that you only know when you’ve got him, how good he is and how important he can be.
“In my squad, Scotty probably wasn’t allowed to play in his best position enough, yeah [because of] Bruno and maybe the lack of physicality that we had.
“You saw a couple of games against Leeds, we said: ‘Scott, this is a man-to-man game, we want you running through as a third man,’ and he scored, two or three, I can’t remember how many goals he scored against Leeds.
“That’s probably a reason because we think of him as… he’s one of the eights. Great physicality.”
Former United skipper Roy Keane remarked: “I’m always wary when lads leave, for a club like Napoli now but it’s a different challenge to Man United and he’s done well.
“Good luck to the lad but I still wasn’t hanging my hat on him every week going, ‘He will be the lad that will bring Man United back.’ When you’re classing him as a squad player and someone says, ‘Here’s £30m,’ it’s not a bad deal.”
During his debut campaign with Napoli, he netted 12 Serie A strikes in 34 outings. This term he has found the back of the net four times across 14 matches in both Serie A and the Champions League.
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