Why Scott McTominay's Ballon d'Or nomination provides a valuable lesson about life
Few would have predicted Scott McTominay would soon be ranked among Europe’s best players when he was sold by Manchester United last year
The nominations of Scott McTominay, of Napoli, and Real Madrid star Caroline Weir for the Ballon d’Or are equally historic. The last Scottish man to be nominated was Ally McCoist in 1987, while Weir is the first-ever woman from this country to make the cut.
Weir’s nomination is overdue, given her starring roles for Scotland, Manchester City, and Madrid. She also has a better goals-to-games ratio than her fellow midfielder McTominay, named Serie A’s player of the year.
Few, if any, would have predicted his inclusion on the shortlist when he was offloaded by Manchester United, his boyhood club, for £25 million last year. Some among the Red Devils’ faithful may have imagined his career was on a downward slope. Not McTominay, who now finds himself in the company of players like Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal, Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and Ousmane Dembele, of Paris St-Germain.
His transformation from an unwanted Man United squad player to a world-class talent is a reminder of the old adage that “a change is as good as a rest”. Sometimes, to achieve our dreams, we just need to shake things up.
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