Scott McTominay will likely be in the Manchester United team which lines up against Leeds on Sunday.
He has established himself in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first-choice midfield this season, after an injury-hit start to 2020.
It wasn’t that long ago that he was linked with a move to this weekend’s opponents, either.
In October 2018, when Jose Mourinho was still in charge McTominay was linked with a loan move to Elland Road by the Mirror.
He’d impressed the season before under Mourinho, before dropping out of the picture as the Portuguese’s reign unravelled.
McTominay was touted for a loan spell in the Championship but didn’t end up leaving.
Even once Ole Gunnar Solskjaer replaced Mourinho, he had to be patient and wait for his chance.
But he is now established as a physical, energetic midfielder Solskjaer can rely on. That will be needed in a full-blooded clash with Leeds this weekend.
Leeds have also changed since then. Under Marcelo Bielsa, they’re a free-flowing, front foot team.
They score plenty of goals but they concede enough too. It’s tough to judge how McTominay’s career would have panned out if he’d gone there.
Take the example of Eddie Nketiah, the Arsenal prodigy with bags of talent for whom it didn’t quite happen at Elland Road.
But there are plenty at Leeds who have shone under Bielsa’s management and it would’ve been a good experience for McTominay at the time.
It turns out he didn’t need a spell away from Old Trafford to prove his worth.
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