Scott McTominay was ‘discarded’ by Manchester United – who didn’t show him enough affection while they had him.
That’s the view of his former teammate Andreas Pereira who let rip at the club for how they handled their best homegrown talents. Brazilian midfielder Pereira finally broke free from United in 2022 after a number of mixed loan spells and is now a key player for Fulham. He was trying to break into the team when McTominay first emerged on the scene back in 2017, but struggled, and went on to spend time at Granada, Valencia, Lazio and Flamengo before his eventual sale.
He left permanently at the same time as another academy talent in Jesse Lingard, leaving McTominay and Marcus Rashford to fly the flag as established first-team players from the academy. McTominay was then sold to Napoli this summer for £25m – where he is already making a name for himself as one of the top midfielders in Serie A.
And it’s fair to say Pereira isn’t exactly happy with how the club have handled their academy players in recent seasons. He said in an interview with Premier League Brazil: “Definitely (there was a lack of affection from Manchester United). I spent a long time there, I arrived when I was 16 and left when I was 26. I really felt a bit of a lack of affection, of being able to play in my position and really show why I was at Manchester United.
“I think that, in certain signings, the club could have trusted more in the youth players. In me, Angel (Gomes), McTominay, Lingard, these players. They even play well, but then, at the first opportunity the club gets, they discard them.”