Napoli are worried about the future of Scott McTominay, feeling vulnerable to a huge offer coming in for their influential midfielder.
The 29-year-old has been a bit hit in Italy since his move from Manchester United in the summer of 2024 which cost Napoli just over £25m.
The Scotland international had a monumental first season, scoring 12 league goals as Napoli won the Serie A title and he was named player of the season in the Italian top flight.
Antonio Conte’s men are lagging behind Inter in the title race this season, but McTominay is enjoying another good campaign, with nine goals to his name in all competitions.
He also helped fire Scotland to the World Cup this summer, memorably scoring a stunning overhead kick in the crunch qualification win over Denmark in November.
Unsurprisingly his fine form has seen him linked with a return to the Premier League and Napoli’s global business development officer, Leonardo Giammarioli, admits it is a concern for the club.
However, he also says he would wish McTominay well if he were to make a big move elsewhere.
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‘Yeah, of course I’m worried,’ Giammarioli told talkSPORT. ‘But ultimately, especially Scott, who’s a very nice guy, we’re happy if he gets to the next level in a couple of years – maybe not now, maybe not next year, but he deserves it.
‘Look at Stuttgart, they wanted to keep Nick Woltemade, but when such an offer comes in, there’s not much you can do, when the player wants to go and money is important.’
He added: ‘It’s a bit complicated for Serie A and our competitive clubs…the league is still making losses in revenue.
‘Of course, it’s hard to keep up with the other big four leagues, but we’re trying to improve and be competitive.
‘Keeping players is difficult, it wasn’t easy to get them, it’s even harder to keep them.
‘We need to be smart about our signings…every bit of money we spend must count.’
Napoli boss Conte spoke last month of how McTominay has blossomed under his management, saying he has transformed the midfielder and is doing the same with on-loan Manchester United forward Rasmus Hojlund.
‘In this year and a half, (McTominay) became a complete player,’ Conte told TNT Sports. ‘When I was in England and faced him as an opponent, I always saw his quality, but always one part of his quality – especially to attack the box and score.
‘Instead, we worked with him on the build-up and construction, and I tried (with) difficulty also to transform him into a complete player. He now plays with (Stanislav) Lobotka as two midfielders, and he has improved a lot in the build-up.
‘At the same time, he has never lost the possibility to attack, to be a box-to-box player. Now he is, in my opinion, a really, really top player for an important club.
‘He has improved a lot – it’s the same for Rasmus Hojlund. In six months, we have worked a lot with him. He is only 22 years old; Scott is 29, so he is more mature as a player. Rasmus is a player who has a lot of space for improvement, he’s only 22, but we are talking about two important players.
‘We’re lucky to have them in our team because they are helping a lot, Scott last season and this season Scott with Rasmus.’
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