Scott McTominay (and Billy Gilmour) are HUGE symptoms of Rangers and Man Utd | OneFootball

There’s a worrying pattern at both Rangers and Manchester United – promising youngsters get funnelled into the system, only to be smothered by short-termism and a lack of genuine faith. Meanwhile, once they escape, they flourish on the biggest stages. Scott McTominay’s Serie A Player of the Year award is the clearest example – he went from fringe figure at Old Trafford to driving Napoli’s Scudetto charge in Italy with stunning consistency and end product  . And Lewis Ferguson? He was allowed to slip through Rangers’ fingers, only to become Bologna’s heartbeat and captain, guiding them to one of their best seasons in decades.

Why do both clubs keep making the same mistake – prioritising big-name transfers or safe loans over genuine commitment to youth? At United, academy graduates like Angel Gomes, James Garner and Adnan Januzaj either vanish on loan circuits or are sold on for a pittance, despite showing real quality early on. At Rangers, it’s a similar story: Kai Kennedy has drifted around the lower leagues, Billy Gilmour needed rescue moves just to get minutes, and Alex Lowry might be next to see his potential wasted.

McTominay’s turnaround began the moment he left – his dive into Serie A’s tactical rigour let him add a clinical edge to his natural engine. It’s telling that Paul Parker’s pathetic dig at McTominay’s ability back in 2023 now looks wildly off the mark – he was writing McTominay off as “not good enough” only for the Scot to become one of Europe’s standout midfielders  .

Then there’s Ferguson – dismissed by Rangers as one of many “just another academy lad,” he’s since smashed that narrative to pieces. His rise in Serie A is a bitter pill for Govan to swallow – it proves what we’ve been crying out for  . And remember, Rangers actually passed on a chance to spend £20M to bring him home, a decision that now looks catastrophic for a lad who’s worth well over double that today  .

Both clubs find themselves adrift this season – Rangers stumbling for silverware, United unable to break into the top tier of the Premier League. And all the while, the players they waved goodbye to are lifting trophies, earning MVP awards and writing themselves into club folklore. Until United and Rangers shift from knee-jerk recruitment to genuine academy investment, this cycle of self-inflicted damage will keep repeating.