Scott McTominay linked with outrageous transfer while at World Cup with Scotland

Scott McTominay's World Cup with Scotland is almost over — and an outrageous transfer link has emerged before he's even left America.

Scotland's hopes of reaching the World Cup knockout stages for the first time in their history are hanging by a thread.

Steve Clarke's side finished third in Group C on three points, beating Haiti 1-0 before losing 1-0 to Morocco and 3-0 to Brazil. The expanded 48-team format sends the eight best third-placed teams into the last 32, but Scotland sit 10th in the 12-team table.

Opta rate their chances of going through at 0.07%. A run of results across Saturday's final group games must fall their way in order to secure the most unlikely of qualifications.

McTominay failed to score at the tournament after emerging as one of Serie A’s top midfielders following his £25.7m move to Napoli from Manchester United in 2024.

The 29-year-old ended his first season as Serie A MVP, winning the title and making the Team of the Season and continued his form into his second season, scoring 10 goals and notching three assists despite Napoli finishing way below winners Inter Milan.

His form hasn’t gone unnoticed with Tuttomercatoweb reporting Real Madrid have shown an interest in the Scot following Jose Mourinho’s appointment as their new manager.

Mourinho handed McTominay his debut at Old Trafford and became a key player for the Portuguese, Mourinho went as far as creating a manager’s player of the year award specifically for the Scot despite only starting 13 games.

Mourinho also advised McTominay to ‘follow his heart’ and represent Scotland at international level. McTominay revealed in 2024 that he remained in contact with the legendary manager following his sacking at United.

Napoli are reported to be locked in contract talks with their star player but a breakthrough in negotiations is yet to be reached.

The report claims it would take at least €80m (around £68m) to prise McTominay away from Italy.

Ex-Scotland player backs McTominay for Real Madrid transfer

Former Scotland defender Charlie Mulgrew believes McTominay would thrive at one of Spain’s biggest clubs.

"Right now McTominay is fine where he is but, I mean, there's no reason why he can't go to Barcelona or Real Madrid," Mulgrew told BOYLE Sports.

"If he keeps producing for Napoli and he keeps scoring in big moments, then that's a natural progression to one of the big Spanish clubs.

"I don't see why not. It seems like Real Madrid would be more of a fit than Barcelona for me.

“He seems like more of a Real Madrid player than a Barcelona player, but nothing in football would surprise me. If he ended up there, I wouldn't be surprised."