Scott McTominay's Contract Talks Stalled Amid Health Concerns
Napoli sporting director Mauro Manna has laid bare the uncertainty around Scott McTominay’s future, admitting contract talks with the midfielder have stalled despite a shared desire to continue together beyond 2028.
Speaking to DAZN, Manna cut through the usual boardroom jargon and went straight to the point. Asked about a renewal for the 29-year-old, he said: “McTominay’s contract renewal? Scott said he doesn’t know if he’ll renew at this time.”
The club chief stressed that Napoli want to keep him and that the player is on the same page, but the deal remains stuck in the grey area where football negotiations so often live.
“He has a two-year contract, we want to do it, and he wants to do it too. It’s not always easy to make things coincide, but we’re trying,” Manna added, summing up a situation where intent is clear but agreement is not.
Health scare, swift action
While the future on paper is unresolved, the immediate concern is McTominay’s health. The midfielder has undergone a planned medical procedure in London after being diagnosed with a mild benign arrhythmia, a condition where the heart occasionally slips out of its normal rhythm.
Napoli moved quickly. The operation has been scheduled and managed to limit disruption to their domestic campaign, with internal projections pointing to a return to full competition by mid-October. The club are calm. They expect their midfield leader back.
McTominay has done his part to ease any panic. At a recent awards ceremony, he played down the scare and framed the intervention as a long-arranged step rather than an emergency.
“I’m fine, the procedure was something I’d planned to do with the club for quite a while,” he said, reassuring both Napoli fans and the Scotland support that this was precaution and planning, not crisis.
Blow for Napoli and Scotland
The timing, though, bites. McTominay has already missed Napoli’s chaotic 3-2 defeat to Inter Milan, a second straight loss for Massimiliano Allegri’s side and a night that underlined just how much drive and balance he brings to the middle of the pitch.
His absence now stretches into a demanding run: Arsenal, Bologna, Fiorentina. Those are the kind of fixtures where a box-to-box presence like McTominay turns tight games, where his energy and timing without the ball often tilt the field in Napoli’s favour. Instead, Allegri must improvise, shuffle roles, and hope someone else can carry the weight.
Scotland feel the impact just as sharply. McTominay, capped 73 times and a heartbeat of the Tartan Army in recent years, will miss four key Nations League matches against Slovenia, Switzerland, and North Macedonia. These are not throwaway fixtures; they open the Sebastien Pocognoli era.
For a new head coach, losing the player who delivered the decisive goals that sealed Scotland’s place at the 2026 World Cup is a harsh introduction. Pocognoli must launch his tenure without his most influential midfielder, tactically and emotionally.
A carefully mapped return
Behind the scenes, Napoli have built a detailed recovery roadmap. Manna outlined a step-by-step plan, with no shortcuts and no room for risk.
“It will take 28 days for sporting fitness because he will take anticoagulant drugs,” the sporting director explained. The first fortnight is simple: complete rest, allowing the body to settle and heal after the procedure.
Only then does McTominay re-emerge onto the training pitch, and even that comes with strict limits. He will be allowed to resume competitive activity without contact, essentially light sessions and fitness work, building rhythm without exposing him to collisions or sudden impacts.
The final hurdle, full-contact football, waits on medical clearance and the careful management of his medication. No one at Napoli wants to rush a player this important back into tackles and aerial duels before every specialist is satisfied.
Contract questions hang in the air. For now, though, McTominay’s battle is with the clock, his own body, and the race to be ready again by mid-October—for club, for country, and for a future that still needs signing off.
