- Rio Ferdinand is not impressed with Manchester United’s decision to sell the midfielder
- Scott McTominay is set to join Italian club Napoli after a £26m deal was agreed
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Rio Ferdinand has hit out at Manchester United for selling Scott McTominay ahead of the midfielder’s £26m move to Napoli.
McTominay is on the verge of leaving his boyhood club after United agreed a fee for the midfielder as they look to sign Manuel Ugarte from PSG.
The 27-year-old has spent his entire club career to date at Old Trafford, having first become involved with United’s youth system at the age of five, and is part of their ‘homegrown’ group of players.
Mail Sport understands Napoli will pay a transfer fee of around £26m for McTominay, who has appeared as a substitute in all of United’s games so far this season, most recently in the weekend’s 2-1 defeat to Brighton.
But the decision has been criticised by United legend Ferdinand, who said the transfer “doesn’t sit well”.
Scott McTominay’s imminent departure from Manchester United to Napoli ‘doesn’t sit well’ with Rio Ferdinand
McTominay came off the bench in United’s 2-1 defeat to Brighton on Saturday
Ferdinand is not convinced that selling McTominay this summer is a good decision for United
Having made his first-team debut during Jose Mourinho’s tenure as United manager, McTominay has become a reliable midfield player under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Erik ten Hag.
Despite being used more often as a substitute, Ferdinand believes the Scotland international is the type of team member United need to win the Premier League.
Talking about his Rio presents Ferdinand said: ‘I look at Scott McTominay and I realise that not every player can be a breakout star or a franchise player.
‘I always say, to win the league you need players like John O’Shea, Wes Brown, Darren Fletcher, Chicharito, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer from when we were at United.
‘Or you need players like Alvarez when he was at City, who can come in, like Jeremy Doku last season, who came in and impacted games even if he didn’t necessarily start every game.
‘Those players are huge, you need those players and they understand the DNA, especially those coming through the academy, Manchester United have always stood for that.
‘I don’t really think it’s right, 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, whereas with him you know what you’re going to get, he’s in the can, he shows up when he’s playing, he might not always be an eight or a nine out of ten, but he’s a good seven and all the time he’ll be an eight and he’ll get you a goal.’
McTominay is on the verge of leaving his boyhood club after United agreed a £26million fee for the midfielder.
The sale of McTominay should allow United to free up space and funds to support their pursuit of Ugarte, who is desperate to leave PSG for Old Trafford.
Ugarte is on the verge of signing a £51m deal as United look to add depth to their midfield.
McTominay has also become a cult hero for large sections of the fanbase. He scored two injury-time goals after coming off the bench to help United beat Brentford 2-1 last season, but his most memorable moment in a red shirt was undoubtedly his long-range winner over Manchester City in March 2020.
