To put it bluntly, Scott McTominay would most likely be wearing claret and blue right now if West Ham had placed a bid of more over £30 million back in August.
Erik ten Hag should be grateful that they didn’t since McTominay is currently a major factor in his continued employment as Manchester United manager.
Ten Hag was relieved of some of the burden after the Scot’s heroics in stoppage time against Brentford right before the October international break. Following that, he scored a crucial goal for Sheffield United.
McTominay was instrumental once more on Wednesday, winning 2-1 over Chelsea and providing his manager some much-needed consolation and happiness in the run-up to Christmas.
Ten Hag replied to reports that he was losing the trust of half the United players during the previous week by preventing four media outlets from attending his press conference on Tuesday.
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Scott McTominay was at the double on Wednesday night as Manchester United beat Chelsea
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The Scottish midfielder has become adept at getting himself into goalscoring positions
The manager of United would have also valued McTominay’s remarks following the game regarding fewer training sessions; the demanding schedule seems to be a problem for certain underachievers.
Add in his goal that gave United a 3-1 lead against Galatasaray on the road in the Champions League – before to their incredibly expensive collapse – and McTominay leads the team in goals scored with six this season.
Although it doesn’t speak highly of Marcus Rashford or Rasmus Hojlund, McTominay scored seven goals to help Scotland advance to Euro 2024.
The midfield player is expected to surpass his previous highest goal total for United during the 2020–21 season, which was seven.
McTominay, who turns 27 on Friday, has made 225 appearances for United and is thought to be a reliable but unimpressive player. However, this could be his best job to date.
It appears Ten Hag has got the message from Scotland manager Steve Clarke, who has been more than happy to let McTominay charge forward and find himself in scoring positions.
This season, McTominay has quadrupled his average amount of shots per game to 2.06, and he has also increased his predicted goals from 0.16 to 0.32 from the previous season.
All of these attacking measures were even lower the previous year, under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick, indicating that Ten Hag has gradually come to realize his offensive potential.
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McTominay pops up to score a dramatic stoppage-time winner against Brentford in October
