Manchester United have already signed a ‘beast’ who could become the new McTominay

Scott McTominay is undoubtedly one of Manchester United’s biggest academy graduates’ success stories since leaving the club.

The Scotland international has shone with new club Napoli, playing a key role in helping his country qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

The 28-year-old currently has 50 appearances for the Italian giants, scoring 17 goals and providing seven assists. He became a hero at the club last season, leading his team to the Scudetto title, winning the Serie A MVP award and also being nominated for the Ballon d’Or in the process.

Ruben Amorim didn’t get a chance to work with him at United, but it would have been very interesting to see how he utilizes him.

How Amorim was able to use McTominay at Manchester United

Interestingly, McTominay has had several different roles under Napoli manager Antonio Conte. He has played as a No. 10, a box-crushing No. 8 and even on the left.

Well, if Amorim had had the chance to coach the Scottish player, he might have used him as number 10 in the infamous 3-4-2-1 system. The United academy product has great instincts in the box and excels at lining up at centre-back.

If he ends up playing higher up under Amorim, he is likely to spend more time in the box.

Of course, another area where McTominay would fit naturally into Amorim’s system would be as a number eight. In this role, he could have still crashed into the box and made a late run to meet the end of a cross from the wing-back.

Off the ball, his physicality would have been a handful. That is perhaps best illustrated by his 1.85 aerial duels per 90 minutes last year, which placed him in the top 11% of midfielders in Europe’s top five leagues.

Of course, we’ll never really know how McTominay would have fit in under Amorim, but there are players in the academy who could be considered versions of the Portuguese manager himself.

Scott McTominay at Amorim

Over the years, United’s acclaimed academy, Carrington, has produced some outstanding talent. McTominay is one modern example of this, and the Red Devils are still full of brilliant talent.

One of them is Sekou Kone, who could be considered the second coming of McTominay.

Soccer scout Antonio Mango sees the Mali youth international as a player who could be “a beast under Ruben Amorim”.

Kone, 19, has already broken into the first team thanks to the United manager, who clearly sees him as having the talent to give him that opportunity. The midfielder was an unused substitute in three Premier League games last season.

In terms of his performances in the academy, the 5ft 9in midfielder has shown great versatility and an eye for goal. He made 14 appearances for the Red Devils Under-21s, scoring two goals and acting as a pivot as a number 10, much like McTominay did at Napoli.

The tournament where Kone truly announced his presence was the 2023 U-17 World Cup.

He helped lead Mali to third place, creating 10 chances and registering two assists, making him one of the standout players in the competition.

It will certainly be interesting to see how far Kone is from his first-team debut.

The 19-year-old can play in several different roles and his ability to make an impact in the final third could pique Amorim’s interest.

It’s easy to see how he’s the second coming of McTominay. Despite being smaller than the Scotsman, he is a versatile midfielder who can dominate physically and score goals.

He is definitely an exciting prospect for Amorim and United.