Napoli star McTominay: ‘Too easy’ to blame Man United, ‘they did everything for me’

Napoli star Scott McTominay says it’s ‘too easy’ to blame Manchester United when the players who leave the club shine elsewhere: ‘Whenever I was there, they did everything for me.’

McTominay is one of the many ex-Manchester United players who have started to deliver consistently after leaving Old Trafford.

The Scotland international, a product of the Red Devils academy, was not a regular starter at Manchester United, but became the best player in Serie A in 2024-25, in his first Napoli season, contributing to the Partenopei’s title win.

Rasmus Hojlund seems to have taken on a similar path at the Stadio Maradona, but there are other examples outside Serie A as well, including Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford.

CBS asked McTominay why so many players have been flourishing after leaving Old Trafford. Is that Manchester United’s fault?

“It’s just too easy as an excuse to say they’ve left Man United and now they’re doing well,” the Napoli star replied.

“In my last year, I did well, I scored ten goals, and we won a trophy. With Marcus [Rashford], there were different issues which might have transpired, which we won’t go into.

“Marcus is a top player, and he’s always been a top player. He’s one of the club legends. He scored so many goals for Man United and did so many great things. Because the spotlight is directly on you, it makes it seem a lot worse, in my opinion.

“When players go away and play more games, they’re going to have an increase in confidence and feel better about themselves, rather than playing fewer minutes at Man United, for example, but when you are at Man United, you have to earn those minutes, like Bruno Fernandes who has done incredible so I think it’s too easy to probably say that,” McTominay continued.

“It depends on the individual. To me, it’s too easy to blame Man United as a club because whenever I was there, they did everything for me. They helped me with nutrition, with training, tactically, whoever the manager was there. Everything is there for you to succeed. It’s not that they give you certain things that other clubs do. They do.

“So the myth of going away and becoming better players comes down to confidence. If you go away and play every single game and you score, and then score again, and people start speaking, you feel good about yourself, and you want to continue that way.”

McTominay’s Napoli beat Milan 2-0 in the Supercoppa Italiana semifinal on Thursday and will meet the winner of Bologna-Inter in the Final next Monday.