McTominay at Napoli: Man Utd favourite receives BIZARRE order

Tom Weber

Updated: 26 Oct 2024 19:13 BST
4 min read

Scott McTominay and the rest of Napoli's new signings have been ordered to become fluent in Italian as soon as possible, according to local media.

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The Manchester United homegrown left his boyhood club after more than 20 years in the summer in a move that was not received particularly well by Red Devils fans.

Though the Scotland international rarely featured from the start under Erik ten Hag, he was eminently important and bailed the Dutchman's side out on more than one occasion due to his amazing knack for crucial goals.

Ten Hag himself has publically admitted that he would have loved to keep McTominay around but Premier League Profit and Sustainability Rules required Man Utd to raise funds and the 27-year-old was a prime candidate to fetch a big fee.

The midfielder made a surprising €30.5 million move to Napoli, who are looking to get back to the summit of Serie A under Antonio Conte. So far, McTominay's impact has been very good, with the demanding and usually stubborn manager even changing his system to accommodate him and his unique skillset.

McTominay has an 'Italian clause' in his deal

Of course, moving to a completely different country for the first time at 27 is a big challenge and a massive lifestyle change off the pitch as well. Before moving to Italy, McTominay did not speak Italian, but he has now been ordered by the club to learn the language as quickly as possible.

At least that is according to Radio Kiss Kiss Napoli, which claims that the club is going to great lengths to ensure that every player in the squad becomes fluent in Italian, with even manager Conte told to hold team talks in Italian.

In fact, it is claimed that Napoli even make sure to mention the requirement to learn the language in players' contracts, ordering them to partake in at least three Italian lessons per week (paid for by the club).

This, it is claimed, is due to Victor Osimhen refusing to learn Italian when he was at the club and the story goes that this negatively affected the team. McTominay, for his part, addressed the challenge of having to learn a new language in his first major interview with club media in late September.

“Italian is not easy because I speak fast, but whenever I listen to people in Italian, they speak very fast! Over the last two, three weeks, I picked up little bits in training sessions, the hotel, in the city," he said.

"Hopefully when I have my own house here I will get a tutor to help me, as I want to understand everything that the coach and teammates are saying. It’s a great life skill to have, learning a different language.”