Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay reportedly rejected a late move to Fulham on transfer deadline day, according to Fabrizio Romano.
Speaking on his official YouTube channel, as quoted in his CaughtOffside Substack column, Romano said that Joao Palhinha’s move from Fulham to Bayern Munich collapsed in dramatic style due to the London outfit being unable to sign a replacement.
Fulham looked at a few candidates in midfield, with McTominay apparently one of them, though the Scotland international decided against the move, which in turn meant Palhinha had to come back to Craven Cottage, even though he’d done his medical and even completed media duties in a Bayern shirt.
Discussing this Deadline Day drama, Romano said: “Everything was done for Palhinha to join Bayern, but Fulham needed a transfer to come in as a replacement. They needed to get this done by 6pm because the transfer window was closing in Germany at that time, but what happened is that Fulham didn’t find a player by that time.
“They tried, though, for a few different players, including Youssouf Fofana and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. However, they couldn’t reach an agreement. Then the crucial part of this story – Scott McTominay. From what I’m told, Fulham also spoke to the Manchester United midfielder, but he said no to Fulham. So what happened is that the Palhinha deal collapsed because Fulham couldn’t find a replacement.
“Palhinha was shocked, and Thomas Tuchel was not happy at all with the situation – he had been insisting to have the defensive midfielder for a long time, even though Bayern only pushed for the move on Deadline Day.
“So for Tuchel it was a big problem to manage this story, with the player really sad and disappointed. He then had to return to London after a message from Fulham, so this was something really incredible.”
Man Utd fans will likely have mixed feelings about this, as selling McTominay could have been ideal to raise funds for future signings, with the 26-year-old probably not good enough to be a long-term option for the Red Devils.