"I’ll be forever grateful for everything" - Scott McTominay hails former Manchester United boss' impact on his career

Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay hailed his former manager Jose Mourinho's impact on his career. The Portuguese legend was in charge of the Red Devils from 2016 to 2018, and gave the Scottish midfielder his senior debut at the club in 2017.

McTominay was given the opportunity to blossom into an important player in the first team during Mourinho's tenure at the club. He grabbed the chance with both hands, having bagged 29 goals and eight assists in 248 appearances (167 starts) for the Red Devils so far.

At United, Mourinho won the Europa League, Carabao Cup, and the Community Shield in the 2016-17. He amassed 84 wins in his 144 games at the club, averaging 1.97 points per game (31 draws, 29 losses), before being sacked in 2018.

After sacking Mourinho in 2018, Manchester United appointed club legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as their manager. After failing to win a trophy in three years, he was sacked in 2021 with Ralf Rangnick taking over as an interim.

In 2022, United parted ways with Rangnick and signed former Ajax coach Erik ten Hag to become their new manager. Altough McTominay is enjoying a great season, with 10 goals and three assists in 39 games, Ten Hag has rotated him in and out of the starting lineup.

Speaking to FourFourTwo, McTominay claimed that, of the four coaches he has played for so far, Mourinho had the greatest impact on his career. He said:

"There’s a picture in my grandparents’ house of me making my debut in the Champions League, standing beside Jose Mourinho. They loved him because he gave me that moment. He gave me that initial opportunity, so he will always be a hero of mine. I’ll be forever grateful for everything that he did for me."

"He knew my reaction came from a good place" - Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay opens up about his debut season under Jose Mourinho

Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay opened up about his first season as a senior professional under legendary Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho in 2016-17.

He recalled his early days as a fiery teenager in first-team training, with Mourinho playing an important role in making him understand the gravity of the situation. He said (via FourFourTwo):

"I remember that when I first started training with the first team, I got into an argument with a couple of the senior players over the way a small-sided game was going... I was only 17 or 18 at the time, but I wasn’t happy that our team was losing and maybe I went too far. Jose pulled me aside and said, “You can’t speak to the senior professionals like that."

McTominay went on to explain how well the Portuguese manager understood him and how he calmly advised him about tackling such situations in the future.

"He told me that they would respect me for standing up for myself and having that fire in the belly, but I had to get them onside first. I think he knew my reaction came from a good place – because I wanted to do well. It gave me a lot to think about when I went back to my digs that night," McTominay added.