Online Reporter
SCOTT MCTOMINAY was already a hero at Napoli after a season plundering goals, but as he collapsed to the ground in tears of joy after helping them to the Italian Serie A football title, he cemented his place as a legend of the club.
McTominay hooked in a fine acrobatic volley — his 12th goal of the season — to give Napoli the lead against Cagliari, before former Manchester United team-mate Romelu Lukaku made the game safe with a second on Friday night.
That home win ensured they held off Champions League finalists Inter Milan to claim their fourth Serie A title. Soon after the final whistle went, the Scotland midfielder was named Serie A’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) for 2024-2025.
“I’m lost for words. It’s incredible, you know, the sacrifice that every single player in the group has put forward to the cause,” said McTominay after the game.
“And the people deserve it because they’ve been behind us from day one, and for me to come and experience this is a dream.”
Leaving United — the club where he had spent nearly all his life — for a new country last summer was a brave move. It now looks an inspired decision.
There have been tattoos, flags, cakes and even a shrine of McTominay. Fans wearing kilts too. Naples is a city that treats their heroes like gods — most notably Diego Maradona.
Last summer McTominay wanted a change of scenery — and United wanted money to help them fit in with the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSRs).
The Lancaster-born player had been with United for over 20 years — first attending a soccer school at the club aged five — but made the decision to have a change of scenery.
A fee of £25.7 million looks like an absolute bargain now. No wonder his former boss at Old Trafford, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, recently told BBC Sport: “How you can sell Scott is beyond me.”And, as he celebrates the title with Napoli, United are facing their worst season since the mid-1970s and a second campaign without Europe since 1985.
“He looks like he is loving life,” said ex-Scotland midfielder Don Hutchison on TNT Sports. “A lot of backroom staff at Manchester United can be proud of how they turned him into this.
“The player has been there for four or five years, but it is going to Napoli and having the confidence of the manager that has taken him up tenfold.” And yet the Napoli move nearly did not happen. They were set to sign Frosinone midfielder Marco Brescianini and he was even having a medical.
But that move did not happen — and suddenly McTominay was at Napoli instead and Brescianini went to Atalanta.
McTominay has scored 12 goals in 34 Serie A games for Napoli — netting another one in the Coppa Italia. He was the Serie A Player of the Month for April and is shortlisted again for May. Now, he is the MVP, effectively the player of the season. McTominay is the top-scoring midfielder in Serie A this season. By comparison, he only bagged 19 goals in 178 Premier League games for United. The success comes from playing more of an attacking central midfield role in Conte’s team. In a lot of his time for United, he played as a defensive midfielder. For Scotland, he actually started as a defender in a back three. — BBC Sport
Online Reporter