‘I didn’t want this’: Erik ten Hag expresses big Man United regret | OneFootball

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag spoke about Scott McTominay ahead of the Premier League clash against Brentford at Old Trafford.

McTominay had an impressive 2023/24 season with the Red Devils, bagging ten goals and three assists in all competitions.

He made several late goal contributions off the bench, two of which came in the dramatic 2-1 comeback win over the Bees in October 2023.

United were on the verge of losing to the London outfit, but McTominay changed the game with two goals in stoppage time.

The Scot netted in the 93rd and 97th minute to secure all three points for the club.

McTominay is no longer with United after his summer move to Napoli. When pressed on the decision, Ten Hag said that he did not want it to happen.

He said: “No, I’m very happy for Scott. As I said when he left, I didn’t want this but it is the rules.

“The club have to deal with the [Financial] Fair Play rules, and the rules are not great.

“The rules are, I would even say, bad, but that is the situation this club created by the rules and it forced us to make this decision.”

United have created plenty of scoring chances this term, but they have quite often lacked a cutting edge with their decision-making in the final third.

McTominay turned into a super-sub for the manager last season. He was directly responsible for securing 12 extra points with his goal contributions.

The Red Devils no longer have McTominay to make a difference off the bench, but there is still plenty of quality in the squad to find the back of the net.

Brentford will be delighted to see the back of McTominay after the Old Trafford setback last year.

Stats from Transfermarkt.com.