Scott McTominay believes he was “misprofiled” during his seven years as a Manchester United first team player and was often played outside of his favoured position, Afrosport reports.
The United academy graduate divided opinion during his time with the Red Devils as he was deployed to play a deeper role rather than his favoured box-to-box role that has made him renowned for scoring very clinical goals, especially from outside the box.
McTominay, in an interview with The Athletic said it was difficult for him to play his natural position due to the presence of other midfielders like Paul Pogba, Christian Eriksen and Casemiro.
The 28-year-old joined Napoli last summer and has been an integral part of the Partenopei’s quest to win their third Scudetto, scoring seven goals and providing four assists in his favoured position.
“When I got into the first team, I was quite misprofiled in where I was playing. It wasn’t the fault of any coaches,” he said.
“My strengths have always been getting into the box, scoring goals, being a problem in there. But I was being used as a No 6, or as a centre-back, and that has never really been my game.
He continued: “But when you’re playing for Manchester United and you’re 20, you can’t knock on the manager’s door and say that you expect to be playing at No 8 ahead of Paul Pogba. It’s not realistic. You have to know your place, and do what you’re asked to do.
“In the last few seasons, I began to get into the box a bit more, to score more goals, and then last year was my best one.
“They would always sign someone who wouldn’t necessarily be what people expected them to be. My mentality was that I was always there, ready to go, ready to take my opportunity. I always wanted to prove my worth, to show I could play every game. It’s not the sort of thing that affects me. You can only be in control of what you do.”
1 – Scott #McTominay is the only Napoli’s player with at least one goal with a header, with right-footed and also left-footed in the current league season; he is also the only midfielder to have achieved this in Serie A in 2024/25. Versatile.#NapoliUdinese #SerieA pic.twitter.com/C4CX4X4Vk1
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) February 9, 2025
Napoli are currently three points behind Inter Milan in the Serie A standings with eight games left to play.
