McTominay injury: why he came off against Como and why Napoli are weighing up surgery
Allegri took him off after the break and explained it in three words: blisters. Today the story has grown, with the September break now seen as the moment to settle the problem for good. Here is what is confirmed and what is not.
Matchday two of Serie A left Napoli with two problems instead of one. The first is the table: the 1-2 defeat to Como at the Maradona is Massimiliano Allegri's first loss in charge. The second is called Scott McTominay, taken off after the break and today at the centre of the club's concerns.
What happened on Sunday
The game was settled in the first half. Como went ahead on 17 minutes through Baturina, fed by a low cross from Diao after he had beaten Olivera; Napoli levelled on 30 minutes through Hojlund, set up by Rrahmani; on 34 minutes Douvikas restored the visitors' lead after a defensive error. Napoli pushed in the second half without finding a way through.
That is when the change came: McTominay withdrawn as part of a triple substitution, with Kevin De Bruyne taking his place. From the touchline it looked tactical. It was not.
Allegri's explanation
The manager gave it immediately, on television, straight after the final whistle: the Scot has had problems with blisters, he is training on a reduced programme, and the hope is to have him in the best possible shape. No muscle injury, then, and no impact knock: a complaint that on paper sounds minor but which in practice stops him working continuously, forcing him to start and stop depending on how he feels.
In the same interview Allegri put the defeat down to carelessness, particularly on the second goal conceded, with two chances given away inside twenty seconds, and added that De Bruyne is feeling better.
Why the story has grown today
Twenty-four hours on, it has widened. Italian reports today say the club are concerned precisely because the problem prevents him from training regularly, and the long September international break is now seen as the right window to look into it properly.
Two scenarios are circulating. The first is that McTominay withdraws from the Scotland squad to undergo clinical tests. The second, more drastic, is surgery to settle the issue once and for all.
What is not confirmed, and it is a lot
Precision matters here, because this story is running faster than the facts allow. There is no official club statement on the player's condition, neither yesterday nor today. There is no diagnosis: no source mentions tests carried out or scheduled. The operation has not been decided, it is an option under consideration, with no date and no confirmation. No recovery time has been given, not even approximate. And nobody, Allegri included, has specified the area affected.
In short: the only certified element is the manager's sentence. Everything else is an assessment in progress. Anyone writing today that McTominay is going under the knife is pre-empting a decision nobody has taken.
What it means if you have him in fantasy football
The question is a real one, because McTominay is one of the most selected midfielders in Italy and last season generated more scoring chances than anyone else in his position. The break arrives after matchday three: until then the risk is not so much his absence as being used at half capacity, which is the worst scenario for anyone deciding whether to start him. The signal to watch is not the statements but the training sessions: if he works with the full group all week, the problem has passed; if he keeps stopping, surgery becomes more likely.
All our individual player calls, updated match by match, are in the Player Predictions section, while the round-by-round picks stay on the Serie A page. We will update this story as soon as the club takes an official position.
