Scott McTominay and Rasmus Hojlund: New Era at Napoli with Allegri
Scott McTominay arrived in Naples and hit the ground running. Serie A title in his first season, a driving force from midfield, and a reputation rebuilt far from Old Trafford. Rasmus Hojlund followed, a familiar face in a new city, hoping to grow alongside him.
Now the landscape is shifting again.
Antonio Conte is out at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, and Massimiliano Allegri is set to walk into the dugout. The former Juventus and AC Milan coach has reportedly agreed a two-year deal to take charge at Napoli, a swift return to work after his dismissal by Milan for missing out on Champions League qualification.
The reaction in the city has been anything but unanimous.
Napoli fans push back
Word of Allegri’s impending arrival has triggered an online backlash from sections of the Napoli support. Some Gli Azzurri fans have launched a campaign to protest the appointment, arguing that his profile does not fit the club’s current vision.
Allegri’s CV is heavy with domestic success. He last lifted the Serie A trophy in 2018 with Juventus and boasts a stack of Italian titles. Yet his most recent spell at Milan ended badly, followed by a sweeping overhaul at the club once he left. That recent history hangs over this move and fuels scepticism in Naples.
Napoli, who soared to the title with McTominay at the heart of Conte’s system, slipped last season. They finished second, 11 points behind champions Inter Milan, and failed to defend their crown. Now they turn to Allegri, a coach associated with pragmatism and control, to reset the project.
McTominay’s rise and the Premier League noise
Amid the turbulence, McTominay’s stock has rarely been higher.
Since swapping Manchester United for Napoli in 2024, the Scotland international has become one of Serie A’s standout performers. His energy, goals and timing in big moments helped drive that title-winning campaign, and his consistency has kept him in the spotlight.
Premier League clubs have taken notice. Transfer speculation around a return to England has been simmering for months, and Conte’s exit will only intensify the talk. A new manager brings new ideas, new hierarchies, and occasionally, new casualties.
For now, McTominay remains central to Napoli’s plans. But with Allegri coming in and English clubs circling, the next few weeks could define the next phase of his career.
Hojlund’s future turns permanent
Hojlund’s situation is more clear-cut, even if the paperwork is still catching up.
The Danish forward joined Napoli on loan last season and, like McTominay, could not quite drag the side to another Scudetto. Yet his time in southern Italy is set to become long term. United agreed an obligation-to-buy clause that kicks in if Napoli qualified for the Champions League – a condition they met.
The fee is set at £38 million, and although the deal has not been formally confirmed, Hojlund is expected to complete his permanent move to Napoli in the coming weeks. Conte’s departure is not expected to affect that transfer.
So Hojlund stays. McTominay, for now, stays. Allegri arrives.
Napoli, a club that has lived on emotion and attacking verve in recent years, is about to be reshaped by one of Italian football’s most decorated, and most divisive, modern coaches. For two former Manchester United players who have already reinvented themselves once, the question is simple: do they become pillars of Allegri’s Napoli, or does this new era push them towards another reinvention somewhere else?
