Sam Allardyce issues stern warning to Manchester United over potential 'disastrous' transfer decision

Former Premier League manager Sam Allardyce has expressed his belief that it would be a "huge disaster" for Manchester United to sell Scott McTominay.

The Scotland midfielder has been linked with a move away from Old Trafford with several Premier League clubs believed to be interested in securing his signature.

Fulham have expressed interest in signing McTominay, who has made over 250 appearances for his boyhood club, while Tottenham and Galatasaray have also emerged as possible suitors for the 27-year-old.

Allardyce believes it would be a ‘disaster’ for United boss Erik ten Hag if McTominay left as he has become an increasingly important player at Old Trafford and a ‘goalscorer’ for club and country.

The ex-England manager has also delivered his verdict on United’s hopes for the 2024-25 campaign and has a ‘sneaky suspicion’ that Ten Hag ‘lost’ the dressing room last season.

‘Now that Erik ten Hag is settled it’s going to be interesting to see whether he’s able to get Man United where they need to go,’ Allardyce said on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast.

‘It depends on whether the players are onside with him or not. I had a sneaky suspicion at the back end of last season that he lost a few players. 

‘I think that is a key element in terms of trust between the manager, players and backroom staff, is an absolute must if you’re going to finish in any position in the Premier League that you surprise people with. 

‘Man United are going to massively surprise people if they finish first or second but you need to be all on board and get unity, it looks like they lost that. 

‘Letting Scott McTominay go would be a big disaster for Man United, he’s become a goalscorer for Scotland and for United.’ 

McTominay started Saturday’s Community Shield clash against Manchester City on the bench but came on for the final half an hour, scoring his spot-kick in the shootout defeat.

Ten Hag addressed the speculation over McTominay’s future earlier in the summer transfer window, saying: ‘We have very good players so there will always be an interest from other clubs.

‘When you score 10 goals in a season and also perform very good for Scotland, then there will be an interest. But we want to keep him because he is a very important player for our squad.

‘What he can contribute, as we saw last season once we had our sixes available, he could play in a more advanced role and he is a highly interesting player for our team.’

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