Scottish international midfielder Scott McTominay was one of the more surprising casualties at Manchester United as Sir Jim Ratcliffe began his cost cutting measures at Old Trafford, but having snapped the 28 year old up for a fee of £25.7 million during the summer transfer window, the 58 capped player has been a revelation at Napoli as he adjusted to the Serie A style.
Six goals and two assists in his opening 24 league games for the club have seen him quickly establish himself as a firm fan favourite, and he has played a pivotal role in Napoli’s rise up the table this year as they re-established themselves as title contenders after their Scudetto success two years ago.
Going into this weekend’s clash with Venezia, Gli Azzurri find themselves in second spot in the table on 60 points, just one point shy of current table toppers and league leaders Inter, but as the week has progressed he has emerged as a serious injury doubt for the side. He has already been placed on reduced training duties in the hopes of seeing him past fit for Saturday’s clash, but as things stand he remains a major doubt for the title hopefuls.
Should he ultimately miss the game he would be a big blow to their chances of picking up the much needed victory to really pile the pressure on Inter, but having established himself as one of the first names on manager Antonio Conte’s team sheet it is just the nature of the beast. They will understandably remain hopeful that he will be passed fit for the game though with the precautionary steps that they have already taken, however his adductor issue is now becoming a growing problem, and he exacerbated the niggle in their 2-1 victory over Fiorentina last weekend and he had to be substituted after going down with some discomfort with just four minutes remaining in normal time.
Despite McTominay’s issue and the quality of his performances for them, Napoli would continue to remain confident of picking up a positive result against 19th placed Venezia at the Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo even if he is missing from their match day squad, as with the form of Romelu Lukaku and others that Conte can continue to call on, they should have more than enough to secure all three points.
It would just simply be an easier task for them should they be able to call on a fit McTominay who was raring to go once again.
