Ten Hag on Man United's sale of McTominay: 'I didn't want this'

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has claimed that he did not want to sell Scott McTominay this summer. The midfielder moved to Napoli for $32 million in August after previously spending his entire playing career with the Red Devils.

Unsurprisingly, the Scotland international has found fitting in at his new club rather easy. Under new manager Antonio Conte, McTominay has been a mainstay in the middle of the pitch.

Not only is he receiving ample playing time, something that he desperately wanted at United, but the midfielder is also contributing in attack for his new team.

McTominay already has two goals and an assist in five total Napoli fixtures so far this season.

United manager blames finances after club spends $716 million on players

Ten Hag was asked about his former player once again ahead of his team’s matchup with Brentford. The manager claimed that the club was essentially forced to sell McTominay due to financial restrictions.

“No, I’m very happy for Scott,” proclaimed Ten Hag.

“As I said when he left, I didn’t want this but it is the rules. The club has to deal with the [Financial] Fair Play rules, and the rules are not great.

“The rules are, I would even say, bad, but that is the situation created by the rules and it forced us to make this decision.”

While the Dutchman criticized Premier League rules, United only have themselves to blame in the situation. The Red Devils have splashed out $716 million on a plethora of new players since Ten Hag took over in 2022.

Not only have United spent heavily in recent seasons, but many of the deals have not exactly panned out. These shaky deals include paying huge fees for Antony, Casemiro, Mason Mount, and Andre Onana.

Along with splashing the cash on the squad, United brass specifically signed several new midfielders to compete with McTominay. This includes the $75 million agreement for Casemiro but also moves for Christian Eriksen, Sofyan Amrabat, and, most recently, Manuel Ugarte. The deal for the Uruguayan came on the same day as the club sold McTominay to Napoli.

McTominay was not getting enough playing time at United

Outside of financial issues, McTominay was open to leaving United in order to receive more playing time. Ten Hag, despite claiming that he did not want the midfielder to leave, regularly kept the Scot on the bench. For instance, McTominay only started 18 of the club’s 38 Premier League matches last season.

Despite barely starting games throughout the 2023/24 campaign, McTominay was undeniably one of the club’s most important players.

In fact, the midfielder racked up ten total goals in the season. Only center-forward Rasmus Hojlund and captain Bruno Fernandes managed to score more goals for the club.

Not only did McTominay rack up goals, but he also scored significant strikes for United. Following a late game-winning goal against Aston Villa in February, it was revealed that the midfielder’s goals were worth more points than any other Premier League player of the season.

Without McTominay’s positive influences, United have struggled to score goals so far this season. Before defeating Brentford, United’s record stood at five goals in seven English top-flight games.

They did, however, seemingly get back on track by scoring twice against the Bees on Saturday.

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