Wayne Rooney urges Manchester United to re-sign underappreciated former player
Wayne Rooney would love to see Scott McTominay re-signed by Manchester United and was stunned the Red Devils ever let him go. The 29-year-old came through the ranks at Manchester United and made 255 appearances for the club from 2017 to 2024. The decision was made to sell the midfielder two years ago, with Napoli taking him to Serie A for just over £25 million. It proved to be an inspired move from the Italian side, with McTominay sparkling and winning the Serie A title in his first season.
He has continued to impress as a goal-scoring midfielder for club and country, helping to lead Scotland to their first World Cup for 28 years this summer. McTominay has stepped up to elite performer from something of a bit-part player and Rooney would love to see him return to Old Trafford with his newfound influence.
'I couldn't believe Man United let him go when they did because he obviously works extremely hard,' the former England forward said on The Wayne Rooney Show. 'And at the time they let him go, he was actually one of the players who you wanted on the pitch every week because you felt like players weren't working or weren't giving the best and he was impactful. He was playing in a more advanced role and he was scoring important goals. When Man United let him go, I was thinking, “wow, what's going on here?” But you'd love to have him back at Man United now.'
Manchester United have already agreed a deal for a midfielder this summer in Atalanta's Ederson and intend to make another signing in that area. The likes of Mateus Fernandes from West Ham, Bournemouth's Alex Scott and Crystal Palace's Adam Wharton have been linked, while McTominay has not really been touted as a possible re-signing. Instead he will be focusing on Scotland's World Cup campaign, which starts against Haiti in the early hours of Sunday morning, UK time.
McTominay has been suffering from a stomach complaint, missing training on Thursday, but is expected to be fit for the opener. 'Hopefully that doesn't spread,' said Scotland teammate Kenny McLean. 'I am sure everybody has fingers crossed that Scott will be fine. Everybody knows what Scott brings. It is quite apparent how big a player he is for us. For all that it has been a team effort to qualify, and always will be a real team effort, we have special players at the core. He is up on a mural for a reason. He is a true talent, a special player, an amazing guy and an amazing part of the team. He is a big character around the place, but it is a team effort and I'm sure Scott would be the first to say that. He is desperate to play and his preparations have been amazing apart from maybe something he has eaten somewhere along the line.'
