Jose Mourinho will always be very special to me, admits Scott McTominay
Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay has revealed that former Red Devils coach Jose Mourinho holds a āspecial placeā in his heart. McTominay has also gone on to say that the former Chelsea boss is still in touch and had even contacted him after leaving Manchester in December of 2018.
Although Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been forced to use academy prospects with quite a few Manchester United players injured, Scott McTominay has played in nearly every game under the Norwegian this season. The Scottish midfielder has been used with either Paul Pogba or Nemanja Matic in central midfield but has been the consistent figure for the Red Devils so far. That combined with his performances has seen McTominay win a lot of plaudits with Solskjaer getting his fair share as well.
However, despite that McTominay hasĀ admittedĀ that he feels Jose Mourinho played a very important part in his footballing life and the midfielder went on to admit that the Portuguese manager is very special to him. The 21-year-old made his debut under the former Chelsea boss and has since slowly become a part of the first team at the club. The academy graduate was used a variety of positions by Mourinho and his development has seen McTominay become one of the club's better players this season.
"Jose is very special to me. He still keeps in contact with me now and keeps in touch after some games. He'll always have a special place in mine and my family's heart because he's the one who brought you in, he was the one who trusted you, he was the one who had belief in you. I owe a tremendous amount of credit to him because if it wasn't for him I might not necessarily be sitting in this seat," McTominay told Sky Sports.
The 22-year-old has made quite an impact for the club's first team but his rise through Manchester United's youth teams were very impressive. He started as a young kid before moving into the U18s in 2013. McTominay's performances were so good that the Scottish midfielder made the U23 team two years later and was called up into the first team two years after that. However, the 22-year-old went on to admit that he would have never made the first team if it wasn't for the academy coaches who had faith in him.
"I wouldn't be at this football club if it wasn't for Paul McGuiness, Dave Bushall, Tony Whelan and people like that who show an absolutely ridiculous amount of patience with somebody who can't even play an U18 game because he's growing, his legs are stretching and he's got no co-ordination. Yeah they need to be patient. Off the pitch as well they have to be patient with you as well.
"There's a lot of different things with school and in your education and your digs you're staying in. It's amazing the level of work they go to, to ensure that every family and every player is happy. It's incredible and a real credit to the academy and the staff here as well," concluded McTominay.