Ten Hag says he told United not to sell McTominay weeks before Napoli deal

The former Manchester United head coach says a meeting in Ibiza in summer 2024 settled that the midfielder would stay, and calls the sale that followed "disappointing and embarrassing".

by Rosaria CimminoTuesday 20 October, 13:03 CET· 3 hours ago

Ten Hag — Foto: tuttomercatoweb.com

Erik ten Hag says he told Manchester United not to sell Scott McTominay in the summer of 2024, only for the club to let him join Napoli a few weeks later for around €30m.

The former United head coach says the decision was taken at a meeting in Ibiza. "We had decided together with the club not to sell Scott McTominay," he recalls. "There had been a meeting in Ibiza and my decision was clear: you don't sell Scott, he's a United fan. You don't touch him."

Then the line that closes the matter. "A few weeks later, the board sold him to Napoli... for me it was a disappointing and embarrassing moment."

A few weeks later, the board sold him to Napoli... for me it was a disappointing and embarrassing moment.

The contrast is plain: the coach wanted to keep him, the English club decided otherwise, and the green light brought the midfielder to Napoli in August 2024.

The present, in Naples, is a different story

McTominay is now under contract with Napoli until 30 June 2028. Asked about his future on 13 October, sporting director Giovanni Manna gave a one-line answer: "He wants to stay with us."

His season began uphill. He had an operation on 8 September for a heart arrhythmia and was cleared to return on 8 October. On Saturday at Venezia he was back in the starting midfield alongside Gilmour and De Bruyne. Napoli lost 1-0, with Adams scoring in the 49th minute and Stankovic saving a De Bruyne penalty in the 68th.

That is why Ten Hag's words carry a different weight now than they would have a year ago. United gave up a player their own coach considered untouchable, and Napoli got him for around €30m. The regret the Dutchman expresses shows how much of a loss the deal was for the side that suffered it.

Right now, though, the accounting of the past matters less than the question Napoli have carried since Saturday. In a team that has lost five of its nine competitive games, who drags the group out of the mud? Ten Hag reminds us what McTominay meant to the people who watched him grow. In Naples, on Tuesday 20 October, that value has to turn into a performance.

Bodø/Glimt arrive at the Maradona at 21:00 CET (20:00 UK, 15:00 ET), with Napoli on zero points in the Champions League after the Arsenal defeat and the 3-1 loss in Villarreal. Ten Hag's revelations are a story from summer 2024.

On Tuesday night, only the 2026 story counts.