Why Manchester United’s Central Midfielder Could Be An Audacious Signing For Derby County

Why Scott McTominay Would Be A Massive Signing For Derby County

Young midfield player Scott McTominay is reportedly being considered for first team action at Manchester United this season having impressed boss Jose Mourinho in the pre-season.

The Portuguese boss gave McTominay his first Premier League start in May and the 20-year-old academy graduate was included in the first team squad for their pre-season training camp in the USA. He also managed his first senior goal recently, scoring in the club’s friendly against Valerenga a few weeks ago.

Tall, strong and good on the ball, McTominay is primarily an attacking central midfield player but has also be used up front by Man United at reserve level. With still a couple of more days to go until the end of the transfer window, Mourinho does not appear to have made up his mind on whether to finally promote the young player permanently or send him out on loan for the season.

McTominay was born in Lancaster but also qualifies to play for Scotland, though he is yet to be capped by either country despite scouts watching his every move. His next move, should he be given the choice, may well be to find regular football over the next year or so and this is where Derby County come in.

Things have improved overall under Gary Rowett and now that Tom Lawrence is on board, things will be looking up even more. In the middle of his attacking 4-2-3-1 formation, Matej Vydra is arguably still not producing the goods and it is here that McTominay could help things.

His forward ability with or without the ball in central areas could prove crucial for Derby and a loan bid could be the way to go for the Rams. Naturally, given that they are thinking of using him at points this season at Old Trafford, a permanent move is off the cards. But an attractive loan deal with the promise of first team football could prove to be acceptable to both the player and his parent club.

Having witnessed the international retirement of Wayne Rooney at just 31 years old, I refuse to believe that it is simply a coincidence that players like himself, Michael Owen and others bow out prematurely having played first team football at 16 or 17 years old.

McTominay is 20 now and could benefit from a title tilt at a lower level, i.e. the Championship, before showing ambitions to play international football and become a regular member of the team at Old Trafford.