José Mourinho has quipped that he “benched” Paul Pogba in favour of Scott McTominay during his spell as Manchester United manager, which is quite a statement given that Pogba was world football’s most expensive player at the time.
McTominay made his United debut under Mourinho, somewhat surprisingly, in 2017.
Fast forward more than eight years and Mourinho managed Benfica to a 2–0 win over a Napoli team featuring McTominay in the Champions League this week.
Afterwards, the Portuguese coach was carrying a bag when he entered the press conference room. One of the reporters enquired as to what it was, with Mourinho confirming it was indeed his and not intended to be a gift to anyone sat there: “It’s Scott McTominay's shirt.”
Mourinho elaborated: “I put him in, I benched Paul Pogba for him at Manchester United. The least he could do was give me his shirt.”
McTominay’s debut came in a Premier League game against Arsenal at Old Trafford in May 2017. The home-grown midfielder was only a late substitute, replacing Juan Mata for the final few minutes of a 2–0 defeat, but he got the nod that day ahead of Pogba, who stayed sat on the bench.
A first senior start followed two weeks later when Mourinho, with more than one eye on the Europa League final against Ajax scheduled three days after, heavily rotated for the visit of Crystal Palace on the last day of the Premier League season.
McTominay began in central midfield alongside Pogba, with chances for fellow graduates Josh Harrop, Demetri Mitchell, Joel Castro Pereira, Axel Tuanzebe and Timothy Fosu-Mensah.
The Scotland international eventually made 255 United appearances before his permanent exit to Napoli in 2024. Since moving to Italy, he’s thrived and has scored 14 Serie A goals in less than one-and-a-half seasons—only five shy of entire Premier League tally over seven years.
McTominay is also the reigning Serie A Footballer of the Year for his role in Napoli’s title win.
Mourinho Influenced McTominay’s International Career Path
McTominay is revered as a Scotland international who has been the driving force behind his country’s first World Cup qualification since 1998. But he was born and raised in England—with a Scottish father—and was eligible to represent both.
As a first-team player at Manchester United, McTominay was unsurprisingly on England’s radar, despite never representing the Three Lions at junior level. Alex McLeish, Scotland manager at the time, credits Mourinho with tipping him off that the player wasn’t expected to choose England.
McLeish then travelled to United’s training ground, the day before Gareth Southgate was also due to visit, to meet with both McTominay and Mourinho, who was extremely helpful.
“I rang José that morning,” McLeish recounted recently. “‘Come here for 12, let’s have lunch and a chat about Scott and then we’ll get him in the room.’ He couldn’t have been more accommodating,” the ex-Scotland boss continued. “I’d sensed Scott was keen, but I thought he’d still take a lot of persuading. He came in and was pretty clear in his own mind that he wanted to represent Scotland.”
On his relationship with Mourinho in his own words, McTominay noted on the High Performance podcast in 2024: “I owe him a great deal and my family love him.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘The Least He Could Do’—Jose Mourinho Reflects on Benching Paul Pogba for Unknown Man Utd Teammate.