Old Trafford legend becomes latest former star to hammer Sir Jim Ratcliffe over monumental transfer mistake

Manchester United legend Jaap Stam has become the latest former Old Trafford star to criticise Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the football operations team for their decision to sell an important first-team star last summer.

Midfielder Scott McTominay completed a £25million move to Napoli last summer, ending his 22-year association with the Premier League giants in the process.

The Scotland international first joined Man Utd at the age of six and spent 15 years in the club’s academy before making his first-team debut back in 2017.

McTominay had racked up 255 appearances for his boyhood club by the time he was offloaded to Naples in a move that was blamed on PSR by the club at the time.

The 28-year-old has certainly enjoyed an impressive first half of the season in Italy, scoring four goals and adding three assists across 16 appearances in all competitions as Antonio Conte’s men currently sit second in Serie A – just two points behind leaders Atalanta.

And Stam has joined a host of former United stars who state that they wanted McTominay to stay, telling Sport Lens: “Scott McTominay has been a very important influence at Manchester United even though he wasn’t a guaranteed starter.

“He scored goals and had a big impact and those are the players you don’t want to lose as a football club. Leaving might’ve been a good step for him, as is currently being discussed with Marcus Rashford, but he may well have wanted to stay.

“He has been a very important player for Napoli and his confidence is growing because he is starting most games and overall I think selling him was a bad call at United. Sometimes you have to make tough decisions as a club and I understand that, but I wouldn’t have been keen to sell McTominay.”

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Ten Hag makes stark McTominay admission as Macheda slams sale

Former United boss Erik ten Hag, who was sacked last month, suggested at the time that he did not support the decision to offload McTominay.

“I’m very happy for him,” he said. “It’s also [a good deal] for us, but it is mixed because I wouldn’t prefer to lose him because he’s Manchester United in everything.

“He was so important for our team, for Manchester United, but unfortunately it’s the rules.

“We have to discuss the rules, when you have to sell and obviously homegrown and academy players bring more value, that’s not the right thing to do. But I think for everyone, for all parts it’s a good deal. For Scott, he’s happy with it, for Napoli a very good player, but also for us.”

Meanwhile, speaking to TMW, former Man Utd striker Macheda believes that Napoli secured a major bargain when signing McTominay, adding he was ‘surprised’ when the Red Devils hierarchy chose to let him go.

“I follow him, he’s really interesting. I met Scott when he was little. I was in the first team and he was in the youth team, I know him well. He’s a boy who has grown a lot, even in the tough years at United he was one of the few to have a significant performance,” Macheda said.

“His departure from Manchester surprised me, but Napoli made a very important purchase. I’m happy for him and for Italian football. With Conte they have changed gear. When you have someone like him, you know that results will come.

“It is not easy because Napoli is a particular place with a lot of passion, but the work that Conte has done so far is excellent. Napoli had a tiring season last year, and to have put them back at the top of the table after a season like that deserves credit. You can see the work done in the summer and that he continues to do.”

Latest Man Utd news: Amorim questions Rashford advisers / United plot huge triple signing

Ruben Amorim has questioned the decision-making of those around Marcus Rashford, while the Manchester United ace has been slammed by a journalist for his conduct.

Rashford is facing a very uncertain future at Man Utd. The forward has been left out of Amorim’s last three matchday squads after disappointing his manager with his behaviour around Carrington.

Amorim has tried his best to calm the storm. Indeed, Amorim has suggested that the ‘new challenge’ Rashford was referring to is actually his own difficult project to make United successful once again.

But the Portuguese clearly has not been impressed by Rashford trying to take his future into his own hands.

Meanwhile, United are plotting a huge triple deal to improve Ruben Amorim’s squad with the signings of Viktor Gyokeres and two other stars, a sensational report has claimed.

According to the latest from the Spanish press, the Man Utd hierarchy are ready to make a ‘strong investment’ in the January transfer window to land three players they view as being ‘fundamental’ to their long-term project.

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