‘Talisman’ McTominay has the motivation to make impact on World Cup

I t is a conversation in Milan that should resonate in Massachusetts. Italy’s failure to qualify for another World Cup has triggered harsh assessment of Serie A, including why there is a shortage of home players making sufficient impact there. The success of imports, whose talent level is marginally above average, supposedly says much about decline within the Italian game. It would be harsh to place Scott McTominay in that category. The sharpness of the 29-year-old’s career trajectory since leaving Manchester United for Napoli depicts a player who was underappreciated at the club of his youth and early professional years. McTominay left Manchester with a point to prove and did so with bells on, courtesy of a title win and the label of Serie A’s most valuable player in 2025. Should McTominay choose to leave Naples, where he is adored, he will not be short of Premier League options. You need only walk in the vicinity of Hampden Park to learn of McTominay’s standing as a Scotland player. Kenny Dalglish and Denis Law have never been depicted on portraits on the gable end of terraced flats close to the national stadium. McTominay, a player born in England, produced such an iconic moment against Denmark last November that it will sit as an artistic reference point for ever more. That game pretty much summed up Scotland’s path to this World Cup. It was a fixture in which Denmark were undeniably the stronger team for long spells. Greece were superior in Glasgow yet lost 3-1 . …