Macheda shocked by McTominay’s Napoli move after growth ‘in the tough years’

Former Manchester United striker Federico Macheda has spoken about his ‘surprise’ at Scott McTominay’s move to Napoli over the summer given the strength of some of his performances in ‘the tough years’ at Old Trafford.

Macheda, who scored memorable Premier League goals against Aston Villa and Sunderland back in 2008, believes that Napoli have picked up a bargain in McTominay at a cost of €30.5m.

The Italian striker explained that he has followed McTominay for many years, as the Scotland international was a youth-team player at the time of Macheda’s arrival in the United first team.

Macheda explains surprise at McTominay move to Napoli

“I met Scott when he was little,” Macheda said in a recent interview with TMW. “I was in the first team and he was in the youth team, I know him well,” he continued.

“He’s a guy who has grown a lot. Even in the tough years at United, he was one of the few to have a significant impact.

“His departure from Manchester surprised me, but Napoli have made a very good signing. I’m happy for him and for Italian football.”

McTominay has had few issues adapting to life in Serie A. He scored immediately after coming off the bench during a 5-0 Coppa Italia win on his Partenopei debut, and also scored his first league goal after just a 25 seconds of action in an eventual 3-1 win over Como in September.