‘Too easy’ – Scott McTominay hits back at Man United transfer ‘myth’ after Napoli success

Manchester United academy graduate Scott McTominay has flourished at Napoli since his transfer to Serie A in 2024.

Former Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay has insisted it is “myth” that players improve automatically after leaving Old Trafford and believes it is too easy to blame the club for personal failures. McTominay left United in the summer of 2024 as Manuel Ugarte arrived from Paris Saint-Germain.

While the Uruguayan has struggled, McTominay has moved from strength to strength in Italy. He scored 13 goals in all competitions for Antonio Conte’s side and became fundamental to their success as they won Serie A last season.

McTominay has continued in similar form this season and recently finished 18th in the Ballon d’Or ahead of Jude Bellingham, Erling Haaland and Declan Rice. The midfielder’s success since leaving Old Trafford is not an uncommon theme.

Marcus Rashford, Antony and Rasmus Hojlund have all impressed in spells since leaving Old Trafford recently. But in an interview with CBS Sports, McTominay said it is too easy to suggest the Reds are the problem. He said: “It’s just too easy of an excuse to say: ‘Oh, they left Man United and now they are doing well.’

“In my last year, I did well. I scored ten goals and we won a trophy and with Marcus [Rashford] there was obviously different issues which might have transpired which 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’s legends and he scored so many goals for Manchester United, done so many great things but because the spotlight is directly on you, it makes it seem a lot worse, in my opinion. Obviously when players go away and they are playing more, they are going to have an increase in confidence and feel better about themselves, rather than playing less minutes for Man United, for example.

“When you are at Man United, you have to earn those minutes like Bruno Fernandes who has done incredibly well. I think it is too easy to probably say that.” When asked if getting away from the British media storm is also beneficial for players leaving the club, McTominay said it is a factor but perhaps not the main reason.

The midfielder added: “There are some players who leave and who we don’t speak about so much. But there are players who everybody speaks about so it depends on the individual and for me I think it is too easy an excuse to blame Man United as a club because when I was there, they did everything for me.

“They helped me with nutrition, they helped me with training, they helped me tactically – whoever the manager is. Everything is put there for you to succeed. It is not like they don’t give you certain things which other clubs do.

“So the myth they go away and become better players comes down to confidence. If you go away and you are playing every single game and you score and you score again, people start speaking [about you and] you feel good about yourself and you want to continue in that way.”