The 25-year-old Scotland international, who made 45 appearances in all competitions for club and country last season, has undergone an impressive transformation over the years.
At the beginning of 2015, an 18-year-old McTominay was only 5ft 6in. In fact, youth-team coaches at United had their doubts about whether the teenager would be able to make the grade at the top-level.
SPORT: Scott McTominay Sings ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’Credit: Instagram0 seconds of 32 secondsVolume 90%
Thankfully, the talented midfielder was kept on their books and at the end of 2015, McTominay went through a quite miraculous growth spurt.
In an interview with Manchester United’s official website, McTominay opened up about his transformation.
“It’s just more of the fact that my body was not ready at all,” he said.
“Warren and Paul McGuinness were really good with me at that time, nurturing me and putting me in and out of training sessions while not giving me so much game time.
“I’m at the height I am now and I want to keep going this season and get as much game time as I possibly can. I always knew I was going to be quite tall but maybe not that tall.
“I think when I was 13 or 14, if I was at another club who weren’t as patient with me as I was smaller and not playing games, I think they might have thought: ‘We’ll just get rid of him’.
“I couldn’t fault United when I was growing up and how they treated me. How it’s panned out has obviously been really good.”
McTominay was handed his first senior appearance against Arsenal by Jose Mourinho, who would later invent his own award to give the midfielder some well-deserved recognition at their end of season awards event in 2018.
And the rest is, well, history. The Scot has become a key member of United’s squad in recent seasons alongside the likes of Fred and Paul Pogba in midfield.
McTominay will certainly be hoping to be part of Erik ten Hag’s plans in the coming months and well, it appears he’s putting in the work ahead of their pre-season tour to Bangkok, Thailand and Australia this summer.
McTominay will be the first to admit that he didn’t have the best of seasons last year, but former Manchester United forward Teddy Sheringham believes the midfielder has all the ingredients to become a key player at Old Trafford in the coming months.
In fact, Sheringham has tipped the academy product to become captain because of his leadership qualities.
“I like McTominay,” he told Lord Ping. “He understands the club and can help other players. He has the right mentality and commitment.
“Is he is a good enough player to be an inspirational leader at a club like a Terry or an Adams, players that let everyone else understand the culture, the standards and lead by example as well as being world class footballers?
“You need a leader on the pitch — someone that can do the manager’s bidding when the whistle blows and grab a game by the scruff of the neck.
“McTominay might not be the ideal choice for flair and that Manchester United swagger, but he understands and he has a bit of drive about him. He would be the one player I would pick from the current crop.”
