- Rio Ferdinand is unimpressed with Man United’s decision to sell the midfielder
- Scott McTominay is set to join Italian club Napoli after a £26million deal was agreed
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Rio Ferdinand has insisted that Scott McTominay’s impending departure from Manchester United to Napoli “doesn’t suit” him as the Scot prepares to bid farewell to Old Trafford.
McTominay is set to leave his boyhood club after United agreed a £26million transfer fee for the midfielder as the team look to sign Manuel Ugarte from PSG.
The 27-year-old has spent his entire club career at Old Trafford, having first come through United’s academy at the age of five and is now part of their ‘homegrown’ squad.
Mail Sport understands that Napoli will pay a transfer fee of around £26million for McTominay, who has featured as a substitute in every one of United’s games so far this season, most recently in the 2-1 defeat to Brighton.
United legend Ferdinand shone during a hugely successful 12-year career with the multiple Premier League champions and explained why he was unhappy with the sale of McTominay.
Rio Ferdinand has insisted Scott McTominay’s imminent departure from Manchester United to Napoli ‘doesn’t go down well’
McTominay came off the bench in United’s 2-1 defeat to Brighton
Ferdinand is not convinced selling McTominay this summer is a good move for United
McTominay made his first-team debut during José Mourinho’s tenure as manager at United and has developed into a reliable midfielder under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Erik ten Hag.
Although he is more often deployed as a substitute, Ferdinand believes the Scotland international is the type of player United need to win the Premier League.
Ferdinand said on his Rio Presents programme: ‘When I look at Scott McTominay, not every player can be a star player or a franchise player.
‘I always say: to win the league you need players like John O’Shea, Wes Brown, Darren Fletcher, Chicharito and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, players from when we were at United.
McTominay is set to leave his boyhood club after United agreed a £26million transfer fee for the midfielder
‘Or you need players like Alvarez when he was at City, who can come on as a substitute. Last season, for example, Jeremy Doku came on as a substitute and had an influence on the games, even though he wasn’t always in the starting line-up.
‘Those players are massive, you need those players and they understand the DNA, especially the ones that come through the academy, Man United have always been behind that. It really doesn’t sit well with me, to replace him you’re going to have to spend £30, £40, £50 million and it’s not going to be cheap to replace him.
‘It’s a gamble, you don’t know what you’re going to get with the next player, but with him you know what you’re going to get, it’s a given, he turns up when he plays, he might not always be an eight or nine out of ten, but he’s a good seven and every now and then he’s an eight and gets you a goal,’ he added.
Selling McTominay should free up space and money for United to support interest in Ugarte, who is desperate to leave France for Old Trafford.