Wayne Rooney urges Man Utd to re-sign elite star – ‘you’d love to have him back’ | OneFootball

Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney would ‘love’ to see his old club re-sign Scott McTominay after being left stunned over the club’s decision to sell the Scotland star in the first place.

The 29-year-old midfielder came through the ranks at Old Trafford and made 255 appearances for the between 2017 and 2024, scoring 29 goals.

However, the decision was made to sell McTominay back in 2024, with Napoli taking him to Serie A for just over £25million, after he was surprisingly deemed surplus to requirements.

That switch has proved to be a decisive one in McTominay’s career, with the player winning Serie A in his first season under Antonio Conte, while the midfielder has continued to impress as a goalscoring weapon in Italy. Indeed, in total he has notched 27 times in 80 games for Napoli to date.

McTominay has stepped up to become an elite performer from being a bit-part player at Man Utd and Rooney admits he would love to see him return to Old Trafford with his new-found influence.

“I couldn’t believe Man United let him go when they did because he obviously works extremely hard,” the England legend said on The Wayne Rooney Show.

“And at the time they let him go, he was actually one of the players who you wanted on the pitch every week because you felt like players weren’t working or weren’t giving the best and he was impactful.

“He was playing in a more advanced role and he was scoring important goals.

“When Man United let him go, I was thinking, ‘wow, what’s going on here?’ But you’d love to have him back at Man United now.”

Man Utd have already begun the process of revamping their midfield this summer, with Atalanta star Ederson poised to arrive after Casemiro’s exit.

The club are also exploring a move for highly-rated West Ham star Mateus Fernandes and have firm interest in the likes of Bournemouth’s Alex Scott and Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton, with a McTominay return not considered possible.

As for the player himself, McTominay is focusing on Scotland’s World Cup campaign, which starts against Haiti in the early hours of Sunday morning, UK time.

The midfielder has been suffering from a stomach complaint and missed training with his teammates on Thursday. He is, however, expected to be fit for the opener.

“Hopefully that doesn’t spread,” said Scotland teammate Kenny McLean. “I am sure everybody has fingers crossed that Scott will be fine. Everybody knows what Scott brings.

“It is quite apparent how big a player he is for us. For all that it has been a team effort [to qualify], and always will be a real team effort, we have special players at the core.

“He is up on a mural for a reason. He is a true talent, a special player, an amazing guy and an amazing part of the team. He is a big character around the place, but it is a team effort and I’m sure Scott would be the first to say that.

“He is desperate to play and his preparations have been amazing apart from maybe something he has eaten somewhere along the line.”