Jose Mourinho has identified Scott McTominay as one of the players he cherished coaching the most during his tenure at Manchester United, referring to the midfielder as ‘my boy.’
Mourinho, who managed Manchester United from the summer of 2016 to December 2018, won three trophies in his first season and finished as runners-up in the Premier League to Manchester City in his second season. Throughout his time at United, Mourinho played a pivotal role in integrating McTominay into the first team, giving him his professional debut in May 2017 when he was just 20 years old. Since leaving United, Mourinho has consistently praised McTominay as one of the success stories of his career in terms of youth development.
During an extensive interview on the FIVE podcast with Rio Ferdinand, Mourinho was asked about the players he enjoyed coaching the most in his career.
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“The players that I most enjoyed [coaching] were the ones that gave me everything,” he responded. “And there are dozens and dozens and dozens, and maybe they aren’t the most talented ones, just the ones that gave everything. The ones that I felt they couldn’t give anything more than what they gave, these are my players.
“Then if you want to, kind of, preferred… I don’t want to be unfair to people and I will be unfair, but when you play a kid, the kid becomes your kid for life. That is always my feeling.
“So I look to Raphael Varane [at Real Madrid] now at the end of his career, he is my kid. When I look to Scott McTominay, [Paul] Pogba on the bench, play Scott McTominay in the Champions League against Sevilla, he is my boy. When I go club to club, I find my boys, and they are always going to be my boys.”
McTominay made two appearances for United towards the end of Mourinho’s debut 2016/17 season before featuring in 23 games the following campaign. The Scottish midfielder has since accumulated 237 senior appearances for the Red Devils.
Mourinho also mentioned Raphael Varane, who was signed by Real Madrid as an 18-year-old and became one of the world’s top centre-backs. Varane and McTominay have been teammates at United since 2021, following Varane’s move from Real Madrid to Old Trafford.