Andy Robertson has said Scotland teammate Scott McTominay was powered to an award-winning season at Napoli by his desire to “prove Manchester United wrong.”
McTominay joined Napoli last summer for £25 million ($33m) after eight seasons in and out of the team at United, where he was often the subject of supporters’ ire.
He scored 12 goals from midfield in his first Serie A campaign as Napoli stormed to the title, and McTominay was named the league’s Most Valuable Player.
“I think he went over there with a point to prove,” Liverpool defender Robertson said, per The Guardian. “I think he wanted to prove Manchester United wrong and prove people in the Premier League wrong. He has gone over there and done that pretty successfully.
“That’s credit to him, credit to his attitude and his determination to be the best version of himself. Now he is a king over there.
“At Man United he probably lacked getting that run of games consistently, he was in and out and things like that. He probably didn’t get the respect he deserves. Then he goes over there, puts in a magnificent season and fair play to him to end it with the league title.
“Even before he was at Napoli, his standards for Scotland were unbelievable. He’s getting better and better, he has taken it to a whole new level.”
McTominay made 178 league appearances for United, scoring 19 goals, but never nailed down a starting role for the club he joined as a six-year-old.
Scotland are preparing for friendlies against Iceland and Liechtenstein this month before kicking off their World Cup qualifying campaign in September.
