Rijo Sam Daniel
Manchester United issue hands-off message to Newcastle following Scott McTominay inquiry
According to The Times (Subscription Required), Manchester United have responded with a hands-off warning to Newcastle after they inquired about Scott McTominay. The former’s stance is certainly reasonable, considering how they have already lost several midfielders this summer itself.
Newcastle is stated to have made “tentative” inquiries about McTominay to discuss his availability in this transfer window. They were not alone, though, as another unknown Premier League side was also in the same boat, but Man United turned down both their queries instantly.
That is because Erik ten Hag views the Scottish international to be “pivotal” to his plans which prompted the Red Devils to take this stance. McTominay is also looking forward to working with the manager as part of the new project, so a move away would probably have not taken place anyway.
Good decision from Man Utd?
The supporters do not hold McTominay in high regard currently, especially after the difficult season he endured last time around. In fact, the fans’ frustrations even led to him being grouped with Fred and called “McFred” due to their poor form in midfield.
Despite that, losing McTominay could have been detrimental, looking at how we lost Jesse Lingard, Juan Mata, Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic for free in this summer transfer window. Adding another midfielder is the last thing we want, which makes this decision from the management quite understandable.
Perhaps ten Hag could even help McTominay play an important role in the midfield by turning around the midfielder’s fortunes. The latter is under contract until 2025, so the 25-year-old may turn out to be quite useful for us if he heeds the coach’s instructions.
One could argue that McTominay could change things around from the next season when assessing the role he would play for us. We have reached an agreement in principle with Barcelona for Frenkie de Jong, which could indicate how our lineup would be for the upcoming campaign.
More Manchester United News
- Erik ten Hag following in Alex Ferguson’s footsteps at Manchester United
- Transfer News: Manchester United enter the race for Youri Tielemans
- Arsenal submitted their second offer for Manchester United target Lisandro Martinez
As such, we may see ten Hag pair de Jong with McTominay in the double pivot role where McTominay would probably play similar to the way Lasse Schone did at Ajax. Fred could also compete for that role, with Donny van de Beek and Bruno Fernandes fighting it out for the number ten position.
That means McTominay would play more to his strengths rather than being tasked with the responsibility to be involved heavily in the buildup, which is one of his weaknesses.
