Scott McTominay makes his feelings clear on leaving Man Utd for Napoli after Italian media give him new nickname

Scott McTominay has opened up on leaving Manchester United for Napoli last summer after reflecting on the first transfer move of his career.

The 28-year-old came through the youth team ranks at United and ended up scoring 29 goals in 255 appearances across all competitions.

Having been given his debut by Jose Mourinho, McTominay went on to play under the likes of Ole Gunner Solskjaer, Ralf Rangnick and Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford.

McTominay claimed silverware with his boyhood club after winning both the FA Cup and League Cup with United.

However, his time at United came to an end over the summer when he was sold to Serie A outfit Napoli.

The midfielder moved for a reported £25.7m transfer fee, which because he was an academy product counted as pure profit for United under the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability rules.

The space left by his departure in central midfielder has been filled by Manuel Ugarte, who arrived from Paris-Saint Germain for an initial reported £42m transfer fee.

McTominay has taken to life at Napoli well and has scored four goals in 15 games across all competitions for the Italian side, with the nation's media branding him the 'new Napoli leader' and the club's fans even going so far as christening him 'McMaradona' in tribute to the legendary Diego Maradona.

Scott McTominay. (Image: Getty)

The legendary Maradona played for Napoli between 1984 and 1991 and the Argentine's image is everywhere throughout the city, so it is an incredible compliment to the former United man.

Scotland international McTominay, who has 11 goals in 58 caps, has reflected on leaving United for Napoli and admitted that though it was a tough decision to depart Old Trafford, he ultimately had to look after his own interests.

Speaking to BBC Scotland, McTominay said: "It was a mutual decision. It was a case of - there's an opportunity there, do you want to go?

"Obviously I know from their side FFP is difficult. It's not easy for clubs to make a decision in regards to homegrown players, but that was never in my thought process.

"My thought process was coming here, seeing the fans, the coach and hopefully doing really good things.

"On my last day, I had to go and see everyone and it was not easy to say goodbye. But that's football. That's the life.

"In this situation, I have to look out for number one and go with my gut feeling of what I want to do in my career and not be held back by any other external factors.

"It was amicable. I love that football club to bits, they have been my life for 22 years, but I have moved on now. I am thoroughly enjoying myself here."