Football Daily - Scott McTominay: Our Brother of Naples

Episode Date: October 11, 2025

Scott McTominay left a struggling Manchester United to become Serie A’s Most Valuable Player, win the Scudetto for Napoli and be nominated for the Ballon D’Or - all in one year. Was he this good all along? Is he finally getting the respect he always deserved?This episode of Football Daily, hosted by football writer and Copa 90 presenter Eugene Noble, goes right back to the start of Scott McTominay's incredible story and explores the making of McTominay: How he grew from the Man Utd academy, to being taken under the wing of José Mourinho and performing on the international stage.We speak to the likes of Paul McGuinness and James Weir, coaches and players who knew him at the academy, as well as podcasters, pundits and fans such as Jay Motty, Joe Fischetti and Umberto Bernardo, who have tracked his career from Old Trafford to the Neapolitan sun.We also hear from football journalist Mina Rzouki about how Scott has transformed under Antonio Conte, as well as Scottish Legend and commentator Pat Nevin about how he is becoming a symbol for the nation in the blue shirt of Scotland. We even speak to Scotland head coach Steve Clarke about Scott’s crucial role to the international team and a conversation that sparked Scott’s career back into life.In 2026, McTominay is facing his biggest season yet: Napoli have a title to defend. They’re back in the Champions League. And Scotland have their World Cup qualifier campaign already underway. So, the question isn’t just how Scott McTominay got here - it’s how much higher can he go?

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Bring more gear, carry more passengers, face greater challenges. Welcome to the world of Defender, with seating up to eight, ample cargo space, and legendary off-road capability. It's built to make the most of every adventure. Learn more at landrover.ca. It's the 23rd of May 2025. We're in the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, the home of Napoli. The most important game in the all history of Napoli. It's a game the home side should win.

Napoli atoply are top of Seria. And their opposition, Caliari and Minos, way back in 15th. Everyone thought this was going to be easy with Caliari, right? But the stakes could not be higher. It's the final game of the 24-25s. Serial season. A win will see Napoli take their fourth ever Serriar title.

Anything else and it would go to their northern rivals into Milan who are one point behind with a far superior goal difference. There's nerves, the pressure is enormous. The game is one of mischances. By 40 minutes the league could be

slipping out of their grasp. But then, just before halftime the moment comes. Across, loops in into the box towards their star player. Not a towering Italian centerback, not a rapid Brazilian winger, but a Scott, Scott McTominee, to be precise. As the ball loops in the air, the crowd holds its breath. This is the incredible story of a player rejected by his boyhood club to rise from the ashes

and become Seria's most valuable player, adored by fans across the city of the sun. He was literally enshrined in a part of Naples. A symbol for Scotland. Scott McTominee has been the man that we have relied on. McFratima to the Napoli faithful. It means brother in Napoli, Zandalam. In this documentary, we're going back to learn about how McTominee was made.

How he grew from the Manionauted Academy to being taken under Jose Marini. to performing on the international stage. And in 2026, McTominee is facing his biggest season yet, with a Ballondeur nomination under his belt. Just how high can Scott McTominee go? From Coppa 90 and Football Daily, I'm Eugene Noble, and this is Scott McTominee, our brother of Naples.

I'm someone in life who just wants to take it head on a lot. Anyway, I don't really get too up or too down with stuff like that. I just want to go and give it my absolute best and learn as much a kind of different culture and different language as well. So just go and dive right into it head first and have a great time. That was Scott McTomone giving an interview while he was at Wimbledon earlier this summer. He just landed back in the UK from his first season at Napoli. He's looking good after a summer in the Italian sun.

Hair perfectly styled, sporting a double-breasted jacket and pinstriped shirt. After a turbulent few years at Old Trafford, United fans would be forgiven for hardly recognising him. What I found interesting, McTominee, as the season progressed, was how much more elegant he looked than I think I'd ever seen him look before. That's Mina Rizuki. She's a journalist and broadcaster and an expert on Italian football. She's been keeping an eye on McTominee and Seriaire and sees a radical change in Scott, both on the pitch, but also within himself. It was about changing the way he was and I think that made a huge difference when he arrived at Napoli

and incidentally you can see that difference now when he's come back when he goes to Wimbledon the way that he dresses everything about him suggests that he's had that glow up After just one year living by the Mediterranean with a city singing his name Scott looked like he'd found a home away from home

Every time he came through for them the articles that started to be written about him the more the fans grew more in love and it was his desire to want to speak Italian, to want to not just speak Italian, but have the Napoli dialect, to make sure that he was one of them. For Scott, it was about finding a new challenge.

It's taught the different way of life over there, the way that you live and stuff like that. And yeah, it's different. Well, in life, sometimes you have to take yourself out of your comfort zone and I've always prided myself on I would never want to be in my comfort zone. And if I can go away somewhere and really establish myself and do well,

then why not? Who's to stop me doing that? From an ex-academy kid with a buzz cut to the perfect Neapolitan gentleman, Scott McTominee is a man transformed, both on the pitch and off it. But how? Was it just the Italian son or something more? Something deeper? To learn that, we need to go back to the start of it all. Scott's story starts in Carrington, a small village in the southwest of Greater Manchester.

the fields and narrow lanes, you can hear the shouts of coaches, boots stomping, whistles blowing, in a word, football. This is the home of the Trafford Training Centre, the storied Academy of Man United. Most just call it Carrington. Just outside Manchester, sort of secluded down one-way track and the first team reserve, youth teams and young players train there. This is Paul McGuinness. He was a coach at the Academy for over 20 years.

The Academy has a rich history known for producing a conveyor belt of incredible talent. From Duncan Edwards, Bobby Charlton, George Best and Mark Hughes to the class of 92 with the likes of David Beckham, Gary Neville and Paul Skulls. It's something Paul McGinnis knows better than anyone. His dad played alongside Bobby Charlton and Duncan Edwards in the 50s. And Paul himself went for the Academy before he came back to coach there. for 20 years. Although it's the biggest club in the world,

these long-term connections create a unique family culture. The homegrown core made it feel particularly like a family club. All the values, the beliefs, the playing style was instilled in the young players to then hopefully affect all the place that came in, yeah. Paul has known about Scott McTominee since he was a scrawny kid playing at seven years old. But somehow, managing to take the ball past the older kids,

He knew Scott was special. Around about 2003, we started a games program for the 9 to 10-year-olds where you played a 4-4 different versions of games and I remember clearly seeing clips of him and watching him playing in those age groups. You had boundless enthusiasm, competitiveness, intelligent, and wanted to win and do the right thing. Standing out at 7 years old is impressive. But even more so, if you remember the players alongside Scott in the academy.

Famous one, Marcus Rafford I've lived with Marcus for a bit He was a bit younger than me Tom Lawrence who was at Rangers last year Padding McNair for a short time James Weir is an ex-pro and also grew up in the Carrington Academy picked up from his local side

Preston North End age 13 though a little older than Scott as a fellow midfielder they often trained together As a midfielder certainly in my United One you gotta be clever you got to get stuck in I can't take any rubbish off anyone

and put your foot in where it might hurt. And also arriving in the box, getting goals. We were always showing videos from, you know, Paul McGuinness and our ex-coaches about Brian Robson, Sir Bobby Charlton, midfielders who would arrive into the box and score goals. Perhaps Carrington's most famous accolade is that Man United have featured an academy player in every single match day squad since 1937.

That's over 4,000 matches. So, if you dream of becoming a Premier League footballer, The Manchester United Academy is the place to do it. But to get there requires significant sacrifice. The very best players are taken out of school, living in Diggs away from home and playing with boys older and bigger than them. Scott was doing that early on,

from when he was barely 12. He was in Diggs, I think, for around about 12. So that's a thing, you know, his mum would be popping down to see him and worrying about him. staying away from home, playing with those older than him, was a formative experience in the making of Scott McTominee. It's resilient every day at 12, you're coming in and training with the very good players who are all older than you.

So that takes some doing as well. But I think he was able, his personality meant that he fitted in in a dressing room. He's always positive. Across all types of training at their academy, there's one place where Man United players really hone their skills. It's called The Cage. During the week, it was quite a famous pitch we called The Cage, and it was a very small five-side pitch sort of thing.

It's about 55 by 30, all enclosed, corners rounded off. So it's non-stop, and the ball doesn't go out. There's a net over the top, so it's constant, and it creates some chaotic football, some chaos, some street football. It's street football at its finest, bringing the favelas to Carrington. We wanted quick-thinking players. who could combine and move and play and defend and think quickly. And it worked for the intuitive part of the game, for the dribble,

for the combination, for the one, two, for getting your body in the way, for connecting with players quickly, for quick thinking, reading the knockdown, shooting, scoring, rebounds, all these things. It was fabulous. But make no mistake, this is where names are made. The big thing is they had a chance to learn off some really top players. So if you had Paul Pogburn there, this is one of the top players in world football. Only a couple of years later, winning the Champions League and going to the World Cup with France,

you're learning, I call it learning by osmosis. Those performances in the cage with the older players honed the skills we would see in the player that would become Scott McTominee. They were born box-to-box midfielder from the fluid football in the cage, Scott learned to play anywhere, as a striker to central defence. While he was playing in age groups well above his own, as Scott went on in the academy, he ran into a problem, one he couldn't control, his own genes.

Scott grew into his body. He was quite small as a kid. We always used to play clubs like Blackburn, who were so much bigger than us, and they used to absolutely batter us, but then when we got to sort of under 16 and 17 level, and we'd grown up a bit, and we were a bit, you know, bigger and stronger.

We used to destroy them, because we had better technical ability. So I think the same for Scott. He was small, sort of good technically. But as the years passed and players like James finally got their growth spurts, Scott was left behind. And the Academy's rising star began to face reality. Would he make it if his body couldn't keep up? He had so many growth and development injuries.

And then on top of that other injuries, and setbacks, and he didn't grow, so he was behind physically and didn't play for a long time. But at age 18, Scott suddenly sprouted, growing 10 inches in just 12 months, and the toll on his body was immense. With the demands of academy football, Scott was plagued by injuries,

and it's in this period where we see the inklings of the player that was to come. Paul remembers taking Scott to one side. I said, but Scott, we've seen your parents, seen your dad, we think you're definitely going to get taller. So you're going to have the best of both worlds because small players have to adapt. They have to play quicker, move quicker.

You're playing with older players. You have to be resilient. I'm not saying he didn't have setbacks and he wasn't grinding in the car going home sometimes thinking I'm never going to do it because everybody was three, four years in advance physically. But that's been the big thing. He's overcome it.

And then, like a butterfly emerging from its kids, Cacoon, Scott the player was born, now six foot free and with the skill base honed in the cage, Scott was ready for the big leagues. When fellow academy graduate, Paul Pogba returned to United after a stint starring at UVA in 2016. A coach, Warren Joyce, reportedly said to him, they had a player in this academy who was bigger, stronger, fitter, nastier, hungrier than him. And Pompter asked who? Joyce said, it was Scott McTominee. Little Scotty was no more. Now able to boss the midfield, then manager of the first team, Jose Marino, took notice.

He's using every minute on the pitch and outside the pitch to learn. He's humble. He wants to learn. He doesn't want headlines of lashes. You just want to work, improve and be useful for his team. Moving on to the biggest stage of them all, the fans were taking notice. When Mottominy broke through, there was a lot of hype about him. That's Jay Motty. He's a broadcaster and hosts as the Stretford Paddock, one of the biggest Manchester United fan channels. There was rumours that Fergie had told Jose,

well, you've got to pick him and not saying Jose listened to him, but it's always about the youth at Manchester United. that's what makes I think Manchester United, the club we are. Scott's debut wasn't quite the immediate impact he would have hoped for. They lost 2-0 away against Arsenal. He came through in Man United's wilderness years. They might have had serial winner Jose Marino's manager, but the play was increasingly dower.

It's very hazy when I think about his debut. It doesn't feel as impactful in my memory anyway as some of the other debuts we've seen with other players. Something Jay does remember at the start of Scott's career is a theme that would come to define Scott's life at Man United. I think the strange thing about Metamne, when he came in, he had this reputation of being an attacking midfielder, then you saw him being used a lot as a defensive midfielder,

which probably didn't suit his game as well. Metominee seemed to have that natural progression where he came in, he did well, and he carried on doing well until eventually he was a first-team member and an essential part of first team. Scott's debut came at the end of a weird mixed season for United. They came sixth in the prem, but Marino won them the Europa.

league. The following season would see them finish second, not quite as good as a result as it now sounds. They were 19 points behind Man City. The team were in what felt like a constant state of flux, but Scott's talent was now being recognised and he became a regular in the first team. Scotty, or McSouls, as the United fans had come to call him, was loved by his first manager. There was that famous award ceremony where Josei Marino decided that he was fed up with David De Heyer, winning player of the year every year, and just on a whim told one of the staff members to go and get a vase or get some trophy to give Scott Metaumny the manager's player of the year, which was the first and last time. I think we saw the Jose Marino manager player of the year award at

Manchester United. The dream of every boy that arrives in the club is to play for the first team and eventually to play for the national team. This player did everything in five or six months. So my player of the year has to be Scott McDonough. Scott cemented himself in the Man United first team between 2018 and 2020, but was never a star player. Fans tended to see him as a relatively patchy, quite inconsistent midfielder, too often being played out of position by Marino's successor, Olly Gunner-Soulshire.

Something we'll come back to later. But over this time, he'd caught the eyes of the international scene. Surely England would be the natural choice for this Lancaster-born lad. Well, not quite. Scott's father is proudly Scottish. So Scott had a choice. Would he choose England or Scotland? What he got is a lot of push from inside Manchester United.

to go towards Scotland. That's Pat Nevin. He's a former Scottish international, part of the legendary team of the 90s, playing alongside iconic figures like Brian McClare, Kenny Dalglish and Ali McCoyst. I think Alec McLeish was very involved in that.

And I know my mate Brian McClare was involved in that. He was involved in Manchester United Youth at the time. Sir Alec Ferguson, another one who was pushing that way for him to go towards Scotland. We were just delighted he did. Scott's decision to The play for Scotland was a real talking point at the time. Well, the Manchester United midfield of Scott McTomene could make his international debut this month.

He's one of six new names in, the Scotland squad to face Costa Rica and Hungary in Friendlies. McTominee qualifies for Scotland through his father. He's only just pledged his allegiance. It's not uncommon for players to put potential international success of a familial loyalty. Here was a promising young player who could choose between playing for an England team who'd had a chance of winning a World Cup or Euros or a Scotland team who would just be happy to make it to one. Scott went with his heart. He's reported as saying he'd actually wanted to play for Scotland since he was a young boy. Loyalty as a trait

will find in Scott again and again. He made his debut in 2018 under then-manager Alex McLeish. But again, it wasn't a hugely memorable one. Alex McLeish would manage Scott in four international games that year. But after a disastrous 3-0 loss to Kazakhstan, McLeish would be fired. And in came... Steve Clark, I'm the head coach for Scotland. Steve Clark was tasked with getting Scotland

back into the international spotlight. And he knew Scott would be essential to his plans to reach the Euro 2020 finals. For me, going into the job in the first year, you're looking at all the players, you're looking at the squad, you're looking at what you've got, you're looking at people that you know you can rely on over the next few. few years that are going to be a big part of the national team.

And Scott was immediately one of those players that you identify. Great size, good shape, proper box-to-box midfield player. And then it was just a matter of finding a way to play that we could utilise Scott's talents. Scott's goals, and with an excellent team alongside him, with the likes of Andy Robertson, John McGinn, Callum and Gregor and Karen Tierney, Scotland powered to their first year of finals in over 20 years. Scotland were back on the international stage Good afternoon, welcome to Hamden Park

12,000 of the Tartan Army are fortunate enough to have a ticket for Scotland's opening game of Euro 2020 and the men's first at a major tournament since France 98 Sea Clarkside only booked their place here in March back to a penalty shootout victory over Serbia sparking wild and emotional celebrations right across the country. It is a moment they've been waiting for for some time.

By the time of the finals, being held in 2021 due to COVID, Steve Clark had placed Scott in defence. Once again, Scott was being played out of position. When I'd taken the role, the team I felt needed to be a little bit more solid at the back, but also wanted centrebacks who could play on the ball. So Scott, with his size, his physique,

I had a little chat with him about playing, dropping into being one of the three centrebacks. And again, Scott didn't complain. He never questioned my decision. He just said, OK, if that's what you want me to do, I'll go and do it. And that just sort of sums up Scott as a person. You ask him to do something for the team and he thinks it can help the team, then that's what he's going to do. That was maybe his toughest time playing for Scotland.

But did he complain? Absolutely not. It's that old phrase. It's what you can do for your country and not what your country can do for you. And that's exactly what Scotland have tried to build under a variety of managers. And certainly Steve Clark, as much as any other, has brought that feeling into the fold. The build-up to Euro 2020 was an odd one. It was just after COVID, with people finally able to watch football live for the first time in months.

And games were hosted across Europe, including in the UK. And Scotland found themselves in a group with the old enemy. For Scotland fans, games don't come bigger than this. This oldest of football rivalries, such extreme highs and lows, and everyone in Scotland willing their team on. It was the biggest game of a lot of people's career at that point. For a Scots when you're playing down there,

and you know the importance of it. We're proud boys, we're here for you. You're being there for us. Come home! Yeah! The group game against England was at Wembley. The oldest rivalry in international football in the home of the sport. Pat recalls how games against England hold a special edge for Scottish players.

It is slightly different from all the other ones when Scotland have played England and Euros etc. and qualifiers. That's why those games have been, you know, they've been Scotland and England games, but there have been Scotland, England games and some. Scott played in defence with Raheim Sterling running at him all nine. They kept him and the likes of Harry came quiet all evening. Scottons had a great game that night, and we often used the line, we hammered England nil-nil that night.

It's probably a bit unfair. That night at Wembley, he was one of a number of players who played very well for us, and we got a decent nil-nill-nill draw. In Scotland, we call it a decent nil-nill win. After the game, Scott was his characteristic self, not dwelling on a job well done, but focusing on the challenges ahead. I feel like we was more than a good match from today.

I feel like the way we approached the game tactically was spawned in terms of what the manager required from us and nullifying their threats. But as I say, we have to win on Tuesday and we're going to do everything our power to do so. Unfortunately for Scott, they would go on to lose the next game to Croatia, free one, meaning Scotland's journey in the Euro 2020 finals ended in the group stages. But just getting there was a feat in itself. And Scott was fast becoming a hero in the eyes of the tartan army. But whilst things were going well for country, for club, it was an entirely different story.

Whilst Scotland were going from strength to strength, Man United, playing under manager Olegona Solshaya from 2018 to 2021, were struggling. And with Scott, now on mainstay of the third, first team. Well, he was getting more than his fair share of the blame. Here's Jane Wattie. It kind of changed slightly where Scott McTominee became synonymous with Fred, this whole McFred thing, where those two played alongside each other and McFred was how it was deemed or termed. And it always felt like, for me, a little bit like square pegs in round holes. Fred and McTominee, the infamous McFred Axis, looked to some fans,

like a kind of comedy duo. A big man, little man midfield, who seemed to offer, not a lot. McTominee had become a name that split opinions. It became a bit of a divide in the fan base. Some fans backed him, some fans thought he gave his all. But then there was the sort of reverse, the flip side to that of, oh, he's only in the team

because he's come through the academy, because he's an academy graduate. If we'd have bought him, we'd have got rid of him by now. As season after Torrid season went by, the structural issues at Man United were playing for all, to see. There was the carousel of managers. He started under Jose, then it was Oli, then it's Ralph Ragnick, then it's Eric Tenhae. I think that's when he left when Erichenai was the managers and that's not even counting the caretaker in Michael Carrick. But also a wider discontent

at the club. One of the big sort of devise amounts of Manchester United fans is this idea of how we spend the money, do we spend money in the right way. Do we give too many players from the academy too much time? It did feel like Metaumny was caught up in all that and I have to mention them because they do loom over the club there's the glazer element. You've got a club where

the fans are against the owners and you might go, well, what's that got to do with what goes on the pitch? Of course it affects what goes on on the pitch. Of course it does. Academy players like Scott

became a lightning rod for this unrest as manager after manager from Olegona Salshoya to Eric Tenhaug failed to impress. The noise around McTominee only grew and grew.

And then, in 2022, for Scott, some ominous news broke. Casamiro is on his way to Manchester United. An agreement has been reached for the Brazilian midfielder. Real Madrid, what I think he could be. When Casamiro was signed and everyone just thought, right, well, that's, it's a no-brainer. Scott Mottominy's going to be dropped and Casamiro comes in. Casamiro might have been past his prime, but he was one of the finest defensive midfielder's in the world, winning three La Liga's and five Champions League titles with Rail Madrid,

as well as a copper America with Brazil, and he was being signed into Scots position. You sort of felt as though maybe that's the writing on the wall for Scott Mottominee. He's going to become surplus to requirements. He hasn't got the same level of ability, of experience, obviously. A fan base divided. His boyhood club in turmoil. A legend of Spanish football brought in to do his job.

It's no wonder that the 22-23 season was the lowest point in the story of Scott McTominee. But Scott had a habit of being taken under a manager's wings, and this time would be no different. Despite this awful run at United, his duties to Scotland were coming thick and fast. In March 20203, they had a huge Euro's qualifier match against Spain. Just days before, Steve Clark had gone to see him. I was watching a Man United game, and Scott was on the bench, and I was watching him warm up on the side of the pitch, and he just didn't look happy.

People often say Steve has a sixth sense for players, and he decided to take Scott to one side. Hadn't been going too well for him at Man United, he was a little bit sad, he wasn't the team. I just thought, sit down, we have a little chat through, see how he is, see how he's feeling. And all I said to him was, strip yourself right back to when you were a little boy, and all you did was wanting to play football. And really was just to think about your position.

You're at one of the biggest clubs in the world, Man United. Okay, you don't play week in, week out, but you're a valuable part of their squad. Just try and enjoy your football again. I said, Scott, just go smile, be happy. Try and go back to what you were as a young boy. Just go and enjoy your football and play with a smile on your face. Then match day arrives. Hamden Park is a sellout.

The Scots are nervous. Spain might not. not be the team they used to be, but they're a force to be reckoned with. And step up, Scott McTominee. Just six minutes in, he makes it one-nill to Scotland. Hamden Park is rocking. And then, early in the second half, Kieran Tierney makes a bursting run on the left wing, his cross to flex and arriving late into the box, Scott smashes it home.

The stadium explodes. When he scored the second goal that night, he was running over at the bench with a big smile on his fist, and he was coming towards me saying, yeah, I'm smiling. The images of Scott from that night are incredible, grinning from ear to ear. The Tartan army in full swing behind him as Scotland beat Spain for the first time since 1984.

Here's Scott speaking just after the game. In his typical way, He shines the light on everyone but himself. This is a famous night for Scottish football. A great night for yourself. Just tell me what it means to you personally. Yeah, obviously, like, you're so happy that you scored both the goals, but sometimes it's not the goal score, it's the collective, it's the teams.

And for us, going back in the change room, everyone's saying, well done to each other, and it's not just a sole thing where it's the one who scored the goals. But as I say, for me, obviously, it's an incredible feeling, and it's my favourite thing to represent Scotland at Hamden Park, and I absolutely look. Over the next year, Steve's words would spark a stellar run of form for his country, powering Scotland to the Euro-2020 finals. The first time they'd featured in back-to-back major finals since the 1990s.

He carried that form over to United as well. The 23-24 season saw Scott become a mainstay in the team again, and he was scoring crucial goals. against all the odds Scott was back in business and the big games didn't stop coming for Man United as well in May 2024

McTominee was on the team sheet for the FAA Cup final against arch rivals Man City I think most fans thought we're going to lose City has just won the league United finished way below where we're used to finish in

in the table it was all doom and gloom but come of the hour come of the man Scott McTominee would go on to probably have his best performance ever in a red shirt. He did a job of just sort of sticking with Rodry and just stopping Rodry doing what he does. Roderys won the Balladour.

He was sort of stifling him. And I thought that was a real professional, important performance at Wembley that helped Manchester United get that win. Everyone agreed after that game how well he'd done and how important it had been. It sounds insane to think about a player that had been for United for so long. after that game, people realise him,

maybe those of us who have criticised Scotland have been a little bit too harsh on him. The football schedule is relentless. Back in Scotland colours just a month later, in June 2024, Scott and 200,000 of the Tartan army travelled to Germany for the Euros. Although Scotland wouldn't have their best tournament

by any stretch of the imagination, McTominee would be their only goal scorer. He might well have been in teams who weren't achieving a hell of a lot by their own high standards, but Scott was beginning to flourish. And then, seemingly out of nowhere. Bizarly, after his best performance for the Red Devils and an emphatic tournament in dark blue, news emerged in the summer transfer market.

Scott was being sold. Scottish fans couldn't believe they'd let someone of that quality go. Here's Pat Nevin again. He is perfect. for the type of team that Manchester United should be and want to be, and they got rid of them. I could not believe it. Absolutely couldn't believe it,

that they've let a player go that we in Scotland already knew was spectacularly special. So either Manchester United who had taken their eye off the ball with Scotland Exominy or Stevie Clark's a pretty special coach. Jay Mutty remembers the news was part of that carousel we discussed earlier at Man United. new managers, new players, and now even a new owner.

I don't think Eric Tanag wanted to lose Scott Metamne at all. He's a player that he relied upon. He's a player that got him important goals. And I think that it was just the case of almost Ineos taking over. It felt like Ineos were pushing for Manuel Agaherty. The reports were that we'd have to sell Scott Metominee to get the Ugati deal done. And it's a bit sad the way it sort of went down. In 2024, United had been bought by Jim Ratcliffe's Ineos.

And change was afoot. It feels like Scott was caught in the crossfut. and surplus to requirements. It's a pattern which also shows the dysfunction of a club like United. How many players have they let go? Who would go on to have hugely successful careers elsewhere? It's kind of been keeping with what's happened with a lot of Manchester United players over the last few years where they've not quite lived up to expectations at Old Trafford.

Gone Swately and done really well. We've seen players like Chris Smalling went to Roma and Sean. Ashley Young went to Inter when it looked like his career was winding. down. Larkarko went to Syria and did really well after not really doing what we wanted him to do at Old Trafford. Scott's final destination raised a few eyebrows. He was going to Napoli. Football news as that transfer deadline approaches, Manchester United and Scotland midfield, Scott McTominy has completed a move to Napoli for 25.7 million pounds, having spent his entire career, of course, at Old Trafford. It made more than 250.

So McTominee was moving to Naples, the sun-drenched city in the southeast of Italy, famous for its pizza, ancient royal palaces, and some of the most passionate football fans in the world. They've part all of their heart and soul into that club. Joe Fisgeti is a lifelong Napoli fan and the host of the Fossa Napoli podcast. He talks about what football means to the city. Almost everything. in many ways that people live through the club and the success of the football club

also represents a bit of a political or geopolitical win for them. When this club wins, a club from the south, which doesn't happen often, it represents a victory over the north. And so that comes out in this extreme passion and devotion and loyalty to the club as well. And the Neapolitan faithful welcomed Scott with open arms. Napoli, it's a city who has been built on inclusion and integration.

Over the centuries, it's probably the easiest place in the world to settle in. Umberto Bernardo was born just north of Naples. Also a lifelong fan. He now works in the Italian embassy in London. He even gave Scott McTominee his work visa to play in Napoli. And Scott didn't come to Napoli alone. It seems the Neapolitans had got Scottish fever. Scott was snapped up alongside fellow Scotsman, ex-Chelsea player, Billy Gilmore.

And what we found two wonderful guys down to earth, very polite, almost shy. And they told me from the very first beginning during that minute they were very excited about the new adventure. And this is what I told them. So listen, from the moment you will be landing in Naples for the fact that you play with Nabob. you will be loved like never before. And that can be overwhelming. And I told them also, should you manage to win something?

Well, you'll see. You'll see something that you can not even imagine. That's exactly what they say. Naples was certainly a change from what Scott and Billy were used to. But moving there together made things a little easier. Here's Scott talking to the BBC earlier this summer. I've been lucky that I have one of my good friends there, Billy Gilmore, who's been so good.

and sort of helping each other out along the way with what we need and driving and different things going to restaurants and training and stuff like that. The pair even learned Italian, well, began to anyway. Cozy, cosy. On Capit America, that's my favourite one. Scotty loves. After dinner, Scotty last for that to the waiter. Scuza.

That's my favourite one. Napoli had won the Skidetto in the 22-23 season, but their last campaign was done. disastrous, finishing a distant tenth. The Napoli board wanted to get the team back on track. To do this, they appointed old hand Antonio Conte as manager. Familiar with the Premier League with stints managing Chelsea and Tottenham, McTominee was right on Conte's mind and exactly his type of player. Here's Mina Razuki. She's the expert on Italian football we heard from earlier. Every time Antonio Conte dips into the Premier League market, you know that he's going to come out with some combative midfielder.

So when McTominee came along, it seemed like it was an opportunity in the market that they took advantage of. Siri R suited Scott like a duck to water. As the season went on, Scott's skills on and off the pitch earned him the Italian badge of honour, a plethora of nicknames. Braveheart, McDominus, Mcterminator. MacGyver, McFratima, Neapolitan for our brother. But one nickname stands out above all, the bottle opener. So how do you say bottle opener in Italian then? What's the Italian name for it?

El apriotelie. To understand this nickname, we need to understand where Napoli were in Seria, as Scots' first season came to a close. By April 2025, Napoli was second. in the league. It was tense. So, by all estimates, Inter were regarded as the best team in Seria, and everyone thought that they were going to win it. It's by the 1st of April, Intel were leading Seria with 67 points and Napoli followed with 64, so we knew that it was a neck and neck between those two.

Mark Gordon, a journalist covering Scottish and Italian football, says this is where a player like Mottominee came into his own. The player that can provide in tight games, that one moment that might just steal the points. McTominy is the man who made that difference because he scored five goals in April he had helped them and scored the first goal in three of their matches against Dianpoli, against Monza and against Torino

that's where the bottle opener came from he was the one that managed to open up the opposition he was the person providing the goal to win the game As the going got tough Scott had kicked into a gear no one thought he had By the 1st of May Napoli had leapfrog inter in the league

now leading Seria by three points. The running was on. MacTominee was brilliant. He really switched it on in the business end of the season. He scored six goals, grabbed two assists, five player of the match awards, and he really drove the team forward. Then it came down to the last three games of the season. Napoli were left with Genoa, Palmer and Calgary, all lower-table teams. But the job was far from over. For Mark, One of Scott's most memorable moments was the game against Genoa, managed by the canny Patrick Vieira. It was always going to be a difficult game. Genoa at home, it was a game where if they'd won, they were almost over the line in terms of winning the title. And I remember at the end of the game, there was a lot of disappointment.

Napoli only managed a two-two draw. Inter were now just one point behind. Were Napoli going to blow their title challenge? There was a few players sat on the pitch looking really dejected. And I remember McTominy was wandering around the pitch with his shoulders back and his chin up, almost telling his teammates, don't worry about it, it's still in control. He would gesture into the fans as well almost to say the same thing. Calm down, it's okay, we're still in charge of this.

After a nervy nil-0 draw against Palmer the following game, it came down to the last match of the season. of the season. The one we heard about at the start against Calgary, the fans, including Umberto Bernardo, were nervous. Inside the Spadding was so intoxicated, it was a magic atmosphere, but at the same time it was a very tense atmosphere. The players were feeling the nerves too.

As news went round that Inter had scored first against Como, the pressure was on. If everything stayed as it was, Inter were winning the Skedetto. And the home side were missing chance after chance. And the nerve started to come into play. Napoli were really scared because it was now, what, 40 minutes, there was no goal scored.

I'm always stressed with Napoli's play, but I didn't doubt for a single second the Nables could have lost. But in the 42nd minute, Winger Mateo played. Politano finds some space on the right. He loops across into the box. And who is there?

Scott McDonnelly. I remember Politano's Cross. I remember clearly Scott's fantastic movement, this sacrobatic kick, because it was right in front of me. But what I remember more that I found myself probably 12 rows below from where I was tem.

and I have no ideas of today how I ended up there. So basically there was a movement of people from the top part of the stand until the lowest part of the stem. It was pure chaos. With the game not even over, celebrations broke out across the city. A second half goal by Lukaku was the icing on the cake.

The reaction to Lukaku's goal was just pure elation because everyone knew at that point we did it. We won our fourth scudato. As the whistle blows, ecstasy explodes around the stadium. The Scudetto was theirs. Images from that night show Scott on his back, his head in his hands, surrounded by his teammates. For Umberto, McTominee had carved his name into Neapolitan legend.

You know, it's already in Naples history book. He's also on people's skin. If you go around in Naples, you see, many, many people have been Scott's goals against Kyrie tattooed. For his outstanding season, on the night he opened the bottle on the Skidetto, McTominee was awarded Seria's most valuable player. He really did have that winning mentality, and Seria is a hard league. And actually, it just looked like McTominy had been there forever.

So what's next for Scott McTominee? Well, this season could be his biggest one year. Napoli ever Skiddeo. to defend. They're back in the Champions League and Scotland have their World Cup qualifier campaign already underway. So how far could he go? How far he goes depends on how far Napoli go. I think that a lot of the times what we get so angry with McTominy is that he didn't favour himself. He accommodated others. He allowed himself to play in different positions when he should really define his favorite position.

And I think with McTominy, I just wish that he was a little bit more selfish and more, I just I don't know, egotistical. Napoli signed Man City legend Kevin DeBreiner over the summer and are looking to cement their place amongst the biggest names in European football. Unlike when Casamiro took his spot at United, Debruner will only help McTominee shine even brighter. What's going on now with the likes of Kevin DeBroner coming in, for example, I think that there's a lot of hope because Conte does want to make the difference

and he does want Napoli to grow. McTominee was nominated for the Ballandoor in August 20. becoming the first Scottish player since Ali McQuist in 1987 to be nominated for such an award. For Steve Clark, it's a sign of things to come. It's obviously fantastic for Scott and we're all absolutely chuffed and delighted for them. But it's good for Scottish football as well that maybe we're just starting to creep back onto the international map a little bit. The fact that the national team has started to qualify for tournaments again and people see these players on the big international stage and recognise that there's a lot of good talent still coming out the country.

For Pat Nevin, McTominate is a leading light in the renaissance of Scottish football, and it's lifting the nation. There's one more really important thing. We had one or two players in the past that we were relying on. Actually, it's different then. We've got Tierney, we've got Robertson, we've got Callan McGregor. Billy Gilm was coming in and he's exactly the same. Great players that are playing at the top level that give you the right attitude.

It's great for the nation. how high can Scott go? Can he actually win the Ballondeur in the future? Will people like Rail Madrid or another big English club come calling? Whatever happens, Scott's legacy in Scotland, but especially in Naples, is all but secured. A historical moment has cemented his place in the city. I hope that he will end his career in Naples. When I was in Sasuolo last Saturday, probably 75% of the versus worn by Naplesoplo supporters number eight Scott McTominy. 75%. I'm not joking.

Scott McTominee's story is one of resilience. Overcoming injury after injury in the academy to make the Man United first team, only to become a lightning rod for all the issues at the club, played out of position, deemed surplus to requirements, to overcome that, to become Italy's most valuable player. To score the crucial goal to win that title is nothing. of extraordinary. Some might say

Scott is finally getting the adoration he always deserved. The story of Scott McTominee is still being written and write him off at your peril. This is a message heard

and copper 90 production presented by me, Eugene Noble. This episode is written and produced by Leo Danchak with further production by Mark Kendrick. The senior producer is Harry Stop.

The production coordinator is Kirstie McLean, and the mix engineer is Lizzie Andrews. For Copper 90, the executive producers are Liam Heath and Ross Whittow Williams. For the BBC, the commissioning executive is Stevie Middleton, and the assistant producer is Matt Taylor. I'm Maisie Adam. And I'm Susie Ruffel. And we host the Women's Football podcast, Big Kick Energy. Each week we bring you the latest from the WSL and beyond. Whether you're a lifelong fan like me

or a newer fan like me and have recently got swept up in the lioness's excitement We've got everything you need To know about the women's game And chance, we've got chance Oh yes, we love a chant And finding ways to shoehorn in

some truly obscure pop culture references It's actually quite a silly podcast Yeah, listen now on BBC Sounds Yeah, you should, okay, cool