He’s already a diamond in the eyes of the Tartan Army.
And now Scott McTominay is shining just as bright in Naples after making a stunning start to life in Italy following his summer transfer from Manchester United. He’s teamed up with former Chelsea and Tottenham boss Antonio Conte at Napoli and has his Scotland international team-mate Billy Gilmour beside him as they start to show the natives why they are adored at Hampden.
A stunning video has emerged of a stadium announcer pitch side chanting back and forward with the crowd. He can be heard shouting the name of McTominay into the microphone to beam around the crowd with the passionate home support responding with loud chants for the midfielder. His impact has been telling with a goal with his first touch off the bench in the Coppa Italia second round win over Palermo. He then followed that up with a goal against Como after just 25 SECONDS.
Romelu Lukaku – who joined Napoli this summer – was team-mates with McTominay at Manchester United and he also praised his fast start for his new club. And has challenged him to continue in the same rich vein of form. He said: “He knows my game, we played together in Manchester for two years. I know his ability in front of goal is lethal, we expect many goals and assists from him. He is doing very well and must continue like this.”
Boss Antonio Conte has also singled out the 27-year-old for major praise since his move. He reckons goalscoring is part of the midfielder’s DNA. He added: “Scott is a player who has goals in his blood; he’s very good at making runs into the box,” he said. “He has excellent technical qualities, as well as an important physical stature. And he’s strong in the air. In his DNA, he has quite a few goals.”
The Tartan Army will be praying he can bring his stunning form on Nations League duty as Steve Clarke’s men bid to put an end to their poor run of results. They lost to Poland and Portugal in the first two outings in League A and now face a trip to Croatia on Saturday before hosting Cristiano Ronaldo and Co back at Hampden next midweek for the return showdown. McTominay was on target for the Dark Blues in the away meeting but the big hitters turned the game around and found a winner late on.