Scotland’s Scott McTominay ‘had to look out for number one’ with Napoli move from Manchester United
McTominay arrived in Naples at the same time as his fellow international midfielder Billy Gilmour.
He made 15 appearances for Antonio Conte’s side, scoring four goals and providing two assists, becoming a fan favorite.
“For me, I love this place,” McTominay explained. “I love the fans, I love my team-mates. It’s a pleasure to be with Billy every day, not just to see him in Scotland, and we help each other a lot.”
The fact that United allowed McTominay to leave has baffled some pundits and former Old Trafford players.
Then-manager Erik ten Hag had said he wanted to keep the midfielder, but Financial Fair Play rules came into play and the sale of homegrown players was seen as pure profit.
“It was a mutual decision,” said McTominay, who joined United in 2002. “Here’s an example – there’s an opportunity there, do you want to go?
“Obviously, I know FFP is difficult from their perspective. It’s not easy for clubs to make decisions about homegrown players, but that never came into my thought process.
“My thought process was to come out here, see the fans, see the coaches and hopefully do some really good things.”
Having been at Manchester United since the age of five, it was a touching farewell.
“On my last day I got to see everyone and it wasn’t easy to say goodbye,” he said. “But this is football. This is life.
“I spoke to him (Ten Hag). He expressed his thoughts on the situation. I said, ‘Listen, this is my career and I’m here to push myself forward’. In this situation Situations where I have to pay attention to number one and go with what my gut tells me I want to do in my career and not be held back by any other external factors.
“It was friendly. I loved that football club very much and they were my life for 22 years but I have moved on now. I was very happy here.”
