He has tied the game and the locker room together, becoming much more than a halfback. But soccer doesn’t give guarantees, even to quiet leaders: yes, there is a chance Scott McTominay will leave Napoli
Napoli campione, De Laurentiis si regala il primo colpo: non è De Bruyne (LaPresse) – SerieANews.com
If you ask Naples fans who has been the decisive man this season, you will probably be met with a plebiscite. Scott McTominay. The Scottish midfielder, who arrived last summer, has proved devastating. Often and often he has made the difference. A real added value to Antonio Conte’s team.
He had been taken as a midfielder of substance, a player of order. Instead, he turned into something much more valuable: the technical-tactical needle of the scales, the one who connected the midfield to the attack. A perfect interpreter of Conte’s soccer. And who, when all was said and done, affected as much as Lukaku, becoming a “breaking” second forward in the service of the Belgian center forward.
De Laurentiis punta a Ndoye? Il ritorno di fiamma
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Napoli paid Manchester United 30 million for him. A large sum for a footballer who turns 29 this year. Not exactly the classic profile of De Laurentiis, who usually invests in young, resalable players. But here the discourse is different. The purchase was strongly desired by Antonio Conte, who had a precise and tactically functional idea in mind. And that turned out to be right.
For this very reason McTominay, today, on paper, is untransferable. Especially if Conte were to stay. But, and here comes the point, the coach’s stay is not guaranteed. A meeting with De Laurentiis is scheduled at the end of the season. A decisive face-to-face to see whether Conte will stay or not.
As long as Conte is here, there is no margin: McTominay stays. Not least because he has attached himself to the city, he now feels like a symbol of this team. And he would have no desire to leave. But if Conte were to go – to Juventus, Milan, or elsewhere – then everything would change. The new coach might have different ideas, and if he does not feel the Scot is central to the project, the club might consider possible offers.
Because the sirens are already there. Inter, for example, has already made more than one thought about him. And there have also been soundings from abroad, especially from clubs that appreciate his profile as a vertical, modern, dynamic player. Right now he is a second-tier scenario. But it is no longer to be discarded entirely. If Conte leaves, and if the new Napoli starts again with a different idea of soccer, then even the highly acclaimed “McFratm,” now an idol of Neapolitans, could be questioned.
