Ex-Man Utd star surprised club made transfer opposed by Erik ten Hag

Former Manchester United star Federico Macheda has criticised his former club for selling Scott McTominay.

The Scot as part of a £25.4million transfer deal. He has enjoyed a highly successful spell in Italy so far, scoring two goals and notching two assists with .

McTominay at United, with the Dutchman having been sacked just under a fortnight ago after a wretched start to the season. But United cited financial pressures as the reason for McTominay's sale.

As he came through the club's academy, the Red Devils could mark his sale down as pure profit, helping them to balance the books. Despite that Macheda has revealed his surprise at the decision to sell.

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The 33-year-old spent seven years with United, scoring memorable goals against Aston Villa and back in 2008. And he believes that Napoli have picked up a bargain in McTominay.

“I follow him, he’s really interesting. I met Scott when he was little. I was in the first team and he was in the youth team, I know him well. He’s a boy who has grown a lot, even in the tough years at United he was one of the few to have a significant performance," he told .

"His departure from Manchester surprised me, but Napoli made a very important purchase. I’m happy for him and for Italian football. With Conte they have changed gear. When you have someone like him, you know that results will come.

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"It is not easy because Napoli is a particular place with a lot of passion, but the work that Conte has done so far is excellent. Napoli had a tiring season last year, and to have put them back at the top of the table after a season like that deserves credit. You can see the work done in the summer and that he continues to do."

McTominay has had no trouble adapting to life at his new club. He scored immediately after coming off the bench during a 5-0 Coppa Italia win on his debut, and also scored his first league goal after just a 25 seconds of action in a win over Como in September.

Before his sacking, Ten Hag made it clear he had not sanctioned McTominay's exit. The Dutchman admitted that the financial rules had left United with little choice other than to sell.

He said: "I’m very happy for Scott. As I said, when he left, I didn’t want this but that’s the rules the club had to deal with. The rules are, I would even say, bad, but that’s the situation created. It forced us to make this decision."

While his former club are struggling down in 13th in the Premier League, Napoli are flying at the top of Serie A. McTominay has been an ever-present in their last seven games, ahead of a trip to title rival Inter Milan on Sunday night.

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