Scott McTominay to Undergo Heart Surgery, Napoli's Midfield Pillar Sidelined
Scott McTominay will step away from Napoli duty in the coming days to undergo heart surgery after being diagnosed with a mild benign arrhythmia.
The Serie A champions confirmed on Tuesday that the 29-year-old midfielder will have a cardiac arrhythmia ablation (PFA), stressing the procedure is routine for athletes and not considered a threat to his long-term career.
Napoli’s midfield pillar sidelined
McTominay has become a cornerstone in Naples since his £25 million move from Manchester United in 2024, driving the club to the Scudetto and quickly turning into one of the first names on the teamsheet.
He has already stacked up 82 appearances and 27 goals for Napoli, numbers that underline how central he has become to their attacking and defensive structure. For Scotland, his influence has been just as clear: 73 caps, 15 goals, and a reputation as a big-game performer.
His latest outing came in a shock home defeat to Como at the weekend, a result that deepened the sense of unease around Massimiliano Allegri’s early days in charge.
As concern grew over his absence from training, Napoli moved quickly to calm fears and clarify the situation.
“Following the onset of a mild benign arrhythmia, Scott McTominay will undergo corrective surgery using a cardiac arrhythmia ablation (PFA) in the coming days. He will be available again after the international break,” the club said in an official statement.
Medical staff have indicated the condition is relatively common among professional athletes and that McTominay is expected to make a full return to elite-level competition.
Allegri’s plans rocked
The news lands at a difficult moment for Allegri. Napoli finished last season as runners-up in Serie A, surrendered their title, and then parted ways with Antonio Conte, triggering a summer of upheaval.
Romelu Lukaku, Giovanni Simeone and Miguel Gutierrez were among the high-profile departures. In response, the club pushed hard in the market, sealing the permanent signing of Rasmus Hojlund from Manchester United and bringing in Chelsea defender Benoit Badiashile on a season-long loan.
Despite the reshaping of the squad, cohesion has been slow to arrive. Two games into the new league campaign, Napoli sit tenth, with one win and one defeat on the board.
Even before the heart issue was made public, Allegri had hinted that McTominay was not fully right physically. Speaking after the loss to Como, the coach revealed his midfield general had already been managing discomfort.
“McTominay had some problems with blisters, so he’s been training on a limited basis. Hopefully, we can get him into the best possible condition as soon as possible,” Allegri said.
That timeline has now been rewritten.
Brutal run without their anchor
Napoli must now negotiate a daunting four-game stretch without the man who knits their midfield together.
Inter arrive on Saturday in a heavyweight Serie A clash, the kind of fixture where McTominay’s aggression and discipline usually set the tone. Hot on its heels comes a high-stakes Champions League meeting with Arsenal, a test of both nerve and depth for Allegri’s remodelled side.
Domestic assignments against Bologna and Fiorentina follow before the international break offers a brief pause and, Napoli hope, a reset.
If his recovery proceeds as planned, McTominay is expected to be available again once club football resumes. The date already circled at Castel Volturno is October 10, when Napoli face Frosinone.
By then, the picture could look very different. Will Napoli still be chasing from mid-table, or will they have survived this spell without their midfield heartbeat well enough to keep their title ambitions alive?
