Man Utd announce Scott McTominay exit after ignoring Sir Alex Ferguson advice

Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay has quit the club in a £26m move to Napoli.

The Scottish midfielder brings to an end a 22-year career with the Red Devils having graduated from the club’s youth academy. McTominay, 27, puts pen to paper on a long-term deal with his new club having flown into Naples earlier this week. Man United will retain a 10% sell-on clause in the agreement.

He could potentially make his debut for Napoli this weekend in the club’s Serie A meeting with Parma on Saturday evening.

United confirmed the news with a lengthy statement which finished: “McTominay will be missed by everyone at the club and leaves with our best wishes as he embarks on a new chapter of his career in Italy.

“The switch to Serie A giants Napoli sees him him link up again with former United team-mate Romelu Lukaku, who has finalised a transfer from Chelsea, and play under Antonio Conte.

“Good luck, Scott, arrivederci and thank you for the fabulous memories.”

Man United have already spent around £150m this summer with the likes of Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt, Joshua Zirkzee and Noussair Mazraoui all signing for the club. McTominay’s exit has also freed up funds for the Red Devils to sign a replacement.

Uruguayan midfielder Manuel Ugarte is on the verge of signing for the club in a (£42.29m) switch from Paris Saint-Germain. While the deal will delight the club hierarchy, one man who might be slightly disgruntled is Sir Alex Ferguson.

The legendary former United boss had previously highlighted how important McTominay was to the side and compared him to cult hero Darren Fletcher. Speaking to the Scottish FA in 2021, he said: “Scott McTominay is now emerging as one of Man United's big players.

“When you watch Man United pick their team for a big game, McTominay's name is in it. He's a good character, a great trainer. I know a little bit about the boy and I think that's the background.”

He added: “I signed him when he was seven or eight years of age and he was actually a centre-forward as a kid. He's just sprouted, a little bit like Darren Fletcher – Darren had a few little annoying injuries as he was growing and needed some rest periods and things like that.

“McTominay is of a similar type to Darren – long, lanky, good winner of the ball and a good turn of pace going forward, a great attitude to the game. All these attitudes that Darren Fletcher had, he's got them.

“Even if you go back to my time with Darren, I very seldom left him out of big games, particularly against Arsenal. He was fantastic against Arsenal and [Patrick] Vieira and I had no problems.

“McTominay is going forward on those guidelines that Darren pursued for a long time at United. It's really rewarding for me to see a Scot coming through.”