Ambition, leadership promises and Antonio Conte: The story behind Scott McTominay's move to Napoli

Scott McTominay is now a Napoli player, signing a long-term contract at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

The midfielder has left Manchester United after over two decades of association with his boyhood club. His decision to leave was not easy, but one that was necessary to continue his career at the top level.

Here's the story on how Napoli decided on McTominay, the efforts they went to in order to woo him and how he could bring unity to a club seemingly lurching from crisis to crisis.

Napoli won their first Scudetto in a generation during the 2022/23 season, but they have fallen by the wayside in the relatively short period of time since.

After Luciano Spalletti left the club on a high in the summer of 2023, they cycled through three managers the following campaign - Rudi Garcia, Walter Mazzarri and Francesco Calzona. Unsurprisingly, this chaos and upheaval saw Napoli finish 10th in Serie A.

Antonio Conte has since been brought in as head coach having been out of work since March 2023, when he left Tottenham Hotspur after an explosive press conference in which he lashed out at the entire club and its staff.

Napoli were in need of a shot in the arm, and Conte has already provided that in his own way. He has so far claimed happenings behind the scenes at the club are dire and he still needs surgery on his playing squad, though brighter days do appear ahead.

Over the weekend, the Partenopei beat UEFA Champions League side Bologna 3-0 in Conte's first home match, with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia putting in a stellar performance to ease tensions around the club. Conte has got his wish at bringing in reinforcements, too.

Conte was promised significant transfer input by club owner Aurelio De Laurentiis when he joined Napoli. Pushes for McTominay and Romelu Lukaku were heavily influenced by the head coach, as well as new sporting director Giovanni Manna.

Upon arrival at Napoli, Conte was concerned there was a drop-off in the squad since they won the title - which is hard to argue with given last season's results. He has also been left frustrated by the club's inability to shift Victor Osimhen having been told the Nigerian was going to leave and accepted this as part of a pact between club and player pre-dating his arrival.

Conte asked for McTominay and Lukaku as they would add top-level experience and dynamism, while also being able to be dropped into his setup straight away without worries over their transition.

McTominay was heavily linked with a move to Fulham earlier this window, while West Ham made concerted efforts to sign him last summer. If he were to leave United, it seemed almost certain he would head to another Premier League club.

But ultimately, no English team met the demands of McTominay, who has been offered a higher wage at Napoli than he would have been at Fulham.

McTominay had to think long and hard about his future, given United were all he'd known for almost his entire life. The club could not give him assurances over his first-team opportunities to match his ambitions at this point of his career, however, and so the decision was made to leave.

Napoli's offer appealed not only from a financial perspective, but a playing and cultural one too. McTominay, though not fluent in Italian, has been promised a place in the first-team's leadership group once he settles, while he will likely have further chances to play in Europe in seasons to come compared to if he had gone to Fulham.

It's been a rocky start for Conte at Napoli. They can only just about see the light at the end of the tunnel, the sun peering over the horizon. The arrival of McTominay should give them hope that their head coach's vision could yet take shape.

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