Erik ten Hag clears up Scott McTominay’s position at Man United amid Newcastle United interest

The midfielder scored four goals in two matches as he netted braces in the 3-0 win over Cyprus and 2-0 win over Spain in the Euro 2024 qualifiers before returning to Manchester United ahead of Sunday’s visit to St James’ Park. McTominay will be hoping to make only his second Premier League start for The Red Devils since October.

Newcastle have identified the 26-year-old as a top summer transfer target to help bolster Eddie Howe’s midfield options heading into the 2023-24 campaign.

But McTominay’s recent scoring exploits have raised questions whether he could be deployed in a more attacking role. The Man United academy graduate regularly played as a centre-forward for the club's Under-21s side before dropping into a deeper role and breaking into the first-team set-up.

And when asked if McTominay would be an option in an attacking position, ten Hag responded in his pre-match press conference: “Scott can play in many roles, it's clear he has scoring capabilities for Scotland but also this season for us he's a really good finisher but I see him as a midfielder so I think I'm happy with Wout [Weghorst] is doing.

"Because when Wout is in the team the team is performing better."

In addition to top scorer Marcus Rashford, ten Hag listed McTominay as one of several other Man United players capable of bringing goals to his side.

“I think we have players like Bruno [Fernandes], like Jadon Sancho, like Anthony Martial, like Scott McTominay, like Antony dos Santos, we have enough players with the capabilities to score goals, definitely,” he added.

"What I said previously, I work in the back on next season but we're working now on this season, so first of all make sure everyone is available and keep improving the way of play and that's the best chance of scoring more goals."

McTominay has scored twice in 32 appearances for Manchester United in all competitions this season but is yet to find the net in the Premier League having been limited to just seven starts so far.