THEY’VE formed an Italian brotherhood since joining Napoli last summer.
And Scott McTominay hopes his partnership with Billy Gilmour will be deadly for Scotland for years to come.
Scotland’s Scott McTominay celebrates with Andy Robertson, Billy Gilmour, Lewis Ferguson and Tony Ralston after scoring their first goal[/caption]
The pair swapped English football for the Serie A and are two of four players Steve Clarke calls upon from Italy these days.
McTominay has always been a huge fan of Gilmour even when he was struggling for game time at Chelsea and long expected him to become his sidekick for Scotland.
He said: “Billy is such a great player.
“We had a great relationship before we went to Italy but spend a lot of time together now.
“We go for dinner a lot and he is almost like a little brother to me now.
“We share a lot of exercises in the gym and train together.
“He always wants to learn and takes his football very seriously so I’m so pleased for him.
“He is a great kid and he has got so much ability, you don’t even notice at times how good a player he is.
“Whenever he has come into the team in Naples and obviously when he has played so much here, he has been a breath of fresh air.
“Technically gifted and he makes such a difference to the team because he is so calm.
“The journey Billy is on is only going to go further.
“Can he win as many caps as me? For sure – or more, to be honest.
“He has the capability to be one of the best players wherever he plays.
“I firmly believe that having watched him grow.
“I remember messaging him when he was at Chelsea and hadn’t played for Scotland.
“I said, ‘keep going son and you’ll be in the Scotland setup before you know it, you’ll be playing in the Premier League.’
“I’m so happy that he is doing it.”
McTominay’s displays for Napoli have Manchester United fans furious their club let one of their own depart in a bargain £25 million deal last year.
Scott McTominayand Billy Gilmour of Napoli[/caption]
For the 28-year-old, who came through the Old Trafford ranks from primary school age, it was a chance to experience new things.
And the midfielder reckons he’s picked up plenty on his travels, with exposure to a new culture propelling his game to another level.
He said: “Has playing in Italy improved me? Potentially I’d say it has because it’s opened my eyes to a different style of football.
“And it’s opened my eyes to a lot of different things off the pitch as well which I’m very, very grateful for.
“Anywhere you play or if you get a transfer, you have to have open arms and want to improve.
“I have always been quite serious about my nutrition, recovery and improving.
“Your eyes open a little bit when you see different ways of approaching football, different ways of training and recovering.
“But you get used to it pretty quickly, it is not something that is difficult to adapt to because football is football, you do your best and listen to the instructions of your manager.
“You just take it full steam ahead and try to improve. It has been good, eye opening and I have really enjoyed it.
“They’re both incredible football clubs and I’m incredibly grateful for the journey I’ve had.
“I still have many more years in my career to keep improving.
Napoli’s Billy Gilmour and Scott McTominay during the warm up before the match[/caption]
“I still have many more years in my career so I don’t want to look back when I’ve retired thinking I could have given more or optimised my career and had more time on the pitch.
“So it’s about improving all the time and helping Steve Clarke and the other players when I’m here.
“It’s football, you just have to go and give your absolute best at all times and push as much as you can to keep improving.
“In football you can never stop improving, obviously it’s a different league for me which I am really enjoying.
“And coming away with Scotland, I’m really enjoying it as well.”
McTominay has kept ALL twelve Scotland goals for competitive games and came up trumps again from the spot in Athens last Thursday.
The home fans did their best to put him off, shining a laser pen in his eyes while he was waiting to take the kick.
But the man himself insists he DIDN’T notice it in the moment even though he had been aware of the lights during other parts of the game.
And reckons he was so focused on hitting the net nothing could have knocked him off stride.
He said: “I wasn’t aware of it, to be honest.
Scotland’s Billy Gilmour, Aaron Hickey, Scott McTominay and Ryan Porteous during the national anthem before the match[/caption]
“I didn’t realise it but I had realised it during the game because it was being flashed around – but for the penalty I didn’t.
“I didn’t know about it, even though it didn’t look like that on television.
“You have to be focused on not let anything get in the way.
“I take a lot of penalties in training, over and over again as repetition so it’s nothing new to me.
“I am quite calm in situations like that anyway, it doesn’t tend to play on my mind and make me think too much.”
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