Jose Mourinho touched upon on the ‘special’ bond he feels with Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay whilst appearing on talkSPORT on Tuesday morning.
The 58-year-old, who is preparing to take charge of Roma in a job he secured just two weeks after being sacked by Spurs, was discussing his ‘love’ for Scotland and their hopes for the Euros.
Mourinho admitted that he loves Scotland and the ‘mentality’ of the people, suggesting that he’s even rooting for them to qualify for the knockout stages even more owing to his friendship with Steve Clarke.
The legendary manager then discussed McTominay, reiterating that he feels a ‘special’ bond with the defensive midfielder having introduced the ace to Man United’s first-team at the end of his first season.
McTominay has since went on to establish himself as a solid player, of course there’s room for improvement but the 24-year-old’s passion and intensity for United is unmatched in the current team.
Here is what Mourinho had to say on his love for Scotland and McTominay:
“They know that I’ve spent amazing time in Scotland with so many friends when I did some of my coaching courses, they know that I love the country and their mentality.”
“I think every one of my friends in Scotland know that I am with them, a part of that, Steve (Clarke) is a friend. I know the responsibility that a national team manager feels in these moments.”
“McTominay is one of these boys that always stays with me, because you know they start with you and then you have this special feeling. So, yes, I would love to see Scotland make history and go through.”
“I believe what they bring from Wembley will help them, that mentality, that emotion, that empathy will help them.”
“The kid (Billy) Gilmour not playing I think is a huge, huge, huge blow because he was responsible for the quality of their possession, the quality of their building up.”
“That was clear with him in the second match, totally different to the first, so I think it’s a big blow for their team.”
McTominay has turned in some spectacular performances for the Red Devils in big matches and he’s now become a starter under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
It’s lovely to see that Mourinho still holds the players whose careers he helped start out dear to his heart and we’re sure that McTominay feels the same way.
McTominay has made 133 senior appearances for the Red Devils, scoring 14 times. The aggressive midfielder has also won 25 caps for Scotland to date.