Scott McTominay is set to join a short list of Scottish players to feature in Italy’s Serie A. with his move to Napoli now complete.
Erik ten Hag expressed his sadness at Scott McTominay’s departure, speaking at his press conference on transfer deadline day.
The Manchester United manager said: “I’m very happy for him and for us, but it’s mixed [feelings] because I would have preferred not to lose him. He has Manchester United in his veins.”
McTominay signed for Napoli for just over £25 million, with the deal benefical for United in terms of PSR. He has been tipped as the standout signing in Serie A this summer.
Scottish footballers in Serie A
Scott McTominay follows a number of other Scottish footballers in recent years who have made the move to Serie A – but he is only the 10th ever.
Before Liam Henderson’s transfer from Celtic to Hellas Verona in 2018, there had not been a Scotsman in Serie A’s top flight for the best part of two decades.
The first was a very familiar name to Manchester United fans, a genuine club legend, Denis Law, who enjoyed a spell with Torino .
McTominay will becomes the first Scottish player to represent Napoli, where he will rejoin his former United teammate Romelu Lukaku
- Denis Law – Torino
- Joe Jordan – AC Milan
- Graeme Souness – Sampdoria
- Liam Henderson – Verona/Empoli
- Aaron Hickey – Bologna
- Josh Doig – Verona/Sassuolo
- Jack Hendry – Cremonense
- Lewis Ferguson – Bologna
- Che Adams – Torino
- Scott McTominay – Napoli
Denis Law spell at Torino and Serie A record
Denis Law is one of Manchester United’s greatest ever goalscorers, and is one-third of United’s famous Trinity statue outside Old Trafford along with George Best and Sir Bobby Charlton.
Law, now 84-years-old, represented Manchester United between 1962 and 1973, scoring 237 goals.
United signed Law from Italian side Torino, where he had spent just one season after beginning his career with Huddersfield Town and then Manchester City.
Law scored 10 goals in 27 Serie A appearances, a record for a Scottish player in the division which stood for more than 60 years until Lewis Ferguson matched and eventually surpassed the number for Bologna in 2023.
Ferguson is currently on 13 goals for Bologna, giving him a headstart on a figure which Scott McTominay will be looking to overtake.
Law spoke about his stint in Italy, expressing his happiness to return to England with Manchester United.
He told United’s official website: ”In Italy, they kicked us a lot. It was a different game really in Italy to what it was here. They marked much more tightly, people were walking with you wherever you went, and you didn’t get that in England.
Even though I’d only had a year there, when I came back to United, I didn’t feel I was being marked by anybody! Freedom!
“I didn’t enjoy the football but I learned a great deal, like how to get away from people. In Italy, whoever scored the first goal, won the game basically because then they closed it down.
“So it was just nice to get back. I enjoyed a lot of stuff in Italy, loved much of it, but the football was awful. I was just getting kicked all over the place.”
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