A quiet return, but a return all the same
A gym. A Napoli shirt. Scott McTominay is back. The Scotland midfielder returned to work on Wednesday at Castel Volturno. No ball yet. Not yet. Just machines, weights and a body being put back together, one careful step at a time.
Sixteen days earlier, he had surgery. An operation to remove the issue. The club are keeping the medical details tight to their chest. For now, though, the only thing that matters is that he is walking, moving and sweating again in a Napoli shirt.
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One date, plenty of pressure
October 10. Frosinone. Allegri has circled it in his notebook. That date, and no other. The coach wants his midfielder back for that one, provided the medical staff give the green light. Nothing is certain. Everything hinges on the next round of checks.
There is still a step to clear between the gym and the pitch. The tempo. The speed. The contact. This is a comeback being managed carefully, with no appetite for rushing things. Napoli can ill afford a setback at this stage of the season.
The international break has come at the right time. It buys a few extra days of breathing space, away from the grind of the Serie A schedule. But once action resumes, Naples will be into the thick of it again, with or without the Scot.
A player Napoli can no longer do without
Two summers ago, McTominay arrived from Manchester United to little more than a shrug. What followed caught plenty of people out. Big goals, a central role and a new Scudetto brought back to Naples. It was a gamble that paid off handsomely, for a transfer that barely turned any heads at the start.
So every day he misses hurts. Every training session back counts double. Napoli are waiting for their No 8. No rush, but no one is losing sight of the fixture list either.
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