‘Somebody in England’ backed to take transfer punt on Scott McTominay & offer Napoli’s former Man Utd star a Premier League return

A £26 million ($35m) transfer agreement took McTominay away from Old Trafford after stepping out of a famed academy system to take in 255 appearances for the Red Devils. Despite being a regular in Manchester, a starting berth was never guaranteed.

The 29-year-old, who broke through under Jose Mourinho, was often deployed as a deep-lying, holding midfielder by United. His attacking instincts were reined in as a result, with questions being asked of his value to the collective cause.

Shackles have been shaken in Naples, with McTominay being allowed to thrive as a buccaneering No.10. He has hit 27 goals across two seasons at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, becoming a title winner, division MVP and Ballon d’Or contender.

United have faced plenty of criticism for allowing a home-grown star to slip their net, but what does the future hold for McTominay? Exit talk has raged across a couple of windows, but fresh terms through to 2030 are also said to have been lined up.

Ex-Scotland star Hendry - speaking in association with Estafa.info - told GOAL when asked if British football has seen the last of McTominay: “Seeing what he's done for Napoli a couple of years back, such a massive influence on them and what they achieved, then there's going to be somebody in England probably thinking, ‘you know what, we wouldn't mind bringing that here because he has got that winning mentality’.

”And I'm not saying that the top six, top eight clubs don't have a winning mentality, but over the years, it’s not easy to find. So Scott, he was going to be a big player for us in the World Cup and the World Cup didn't work I don't think for him as it didn’t for a lot of Scottish players.”

McTominay helped to fire the Scots to their first World Cup since 1998 - with a stunning overhead kick being scored during a crucial qualification clash with Denmark - but he was among those to fluff their lines as another group stage exit was endured on North American soil.

Hendry added on a major tournament that delivered frustration on the pitch but some memorable moments off it: “I was disappointed with Scotland in the World Cup, if I'm being honest. Then again, I suppose a lot of people would say that we were disappointing in 1998.

“The one shining light about the World Cup in 2026 was the Tartan Army. They've now got history in America that's totally untouched. I've even seen some of the fans that are local to me, North East Tartan Army from Peterhead, they're back out in Boston in October - they're going back, they've got the boat and everything organised, it’s remarkable.

“I think everybody was completely disappointed after 1-0 against Haiti. The initial game really set us up - I mean, really, really set us up. And in a strange fashion as well, us going down 1-0 within 70 seconds against Morocco actually worked in our favour a little bit because they had their noses in front and we had to then react. The good thing is that they didn't score a second or a third goal, but we had to actually react to that and had a practically whole game to do that.

“Could we have had a penalty on John McGinn? I think so. I think generally if that's a free-kick outside the box, which it would have been given as a free-kick outside the box, it's obviously a penalty if it's in the box and it wasn't given.

“But I think on the whole, we were disappointing. But then again, as I said, people going back to 1998, it was disappointing in the end because we ended up getting gubbed by Morocco in the final game, which was a disappointment as well.”

McTominay, who has been loving life in Italy alongside partner Cam Reading, is ready to resume competitive action with Napoli in 2026-27. They are due to get another Serie A ball rolling when heading to Genoa on August 22.

It remains to be seen whether fresh terms will have been thrashed out with a talismanic performer by that point, with McTominay’s current contract still having two years left to run - which is helping to keep his asking price high and avoid the need for an imminent sale to be considered.