Newcastle to bid for Manchester United’s Scott McTominay

In a story published on Monday in The Telegraph, Luke Edwards revealed Newcastle’s plans of submitting an offer to purchase Scott Mctominay next summer, thus acquiring the Scotland international from Manchester United.

According to Edwards, Eddie Howe thinks the midfielder has the “physical attributes to succeed in his system.”

After the arrival of Erik ten Hag in Manchester, McTominay got relegated to a secondary role because of the signing of Brazil international and Champions League multi-time champion Casemiro. The presence of other midfielders of EtH’s preference, such as Christian Eriksen and Fred, didn’t help McTominay’s case either.

So far this season, the native of Lancaster has appeared in 18 Premier League games (865 minutes, seven starts) and in 7 Europa League matches (138 minutes) over which he’s scored just one goal generating a combined 1.7 xG and 0.2 xAG.

There was a time in January in which Newcastle already approached Man Utd to gauge the willingness of the Mancunians to sell McTominay then, but their proposal was rejected with the Red Devils not wanting the player “to join a team they considered to be a direct rival for a Champions League place.”

Now, a few months later and ahead of next season, the expectation around Tyneside is for that position “to have softened,” according to the information obtained by Edwards.

There is also the (obvious) financial side of the business and that Manchester United will need to raise funds to bolster their squad, their main avenue to generating quick money to spend throughout the summer transfer market.

While McTominay doesn’t fit the huge-lump-sale bill, the truth is that anything adds and in United’s case, as they aim to get into UCL positions by the end of this season securing a fourth place behind Arsenal, Man City, and Newcastle, anything would be of help for their business.

Edwards also reveals that chief scout Steve Nickson, director of football Dan Ashworth, and Howe have “all agreed he would add something different to the squad,” which has been the collective thought around Newcastle for “the past 12 months”.

Howe, as is well known by now, “prioritizes players with experience of playing in British football” and would be looking to add McTominay to his squad in order to use him “as a deep-lying midfielder” tasked with “shielding the back four and allowing playmaker Bruno to play further up the pitch.” This would allow the Brazil international to expand his game and roam toward more advanced positions up the pitch.

McTominay is also seen as “a threat at set-pieces,” something that Howe has worked on with his colleagues since arriving in Newcastle. Being only 26 years old is another positive in Howe’s eyes when assessing McTominay’s overall value.

Edwards revealed that “McTominay is believed to be open to the idea of moving to Newcastle,” adding that the player is “impressed by the vast strides the team have made this season.”

Howe considers McTominay would also “add vital experience” to a team expected to play in European competitions next season, which is something that the current squad lacks and is trying to find in all their potential targets in the summer.

An important thing to remark is that Newcastle “will not finalize” any transfer plans “until May,” says Edwards, as the club will need to wait to know their final position in the Premier League table and the continental competition they will be playing in next season, as that will be a determining factor in the budget they can count on.

As we reported a few days ago, Newcastle and Howe are expecting at least “five or six additions,” most prominently one defensive midfielder and one box-to-box, creative-type player—with James Maddison has been identified as the main target to fill that role.