Scott McTominay's Uncertain Future with Napoli: Contract Talks Stalled

Manna has laid bare the uncertainty around Scott McTominay’s future, admitting Napoli and the midfielder are struggling to turn mutual goodwill into a signed contract.

The sporting director, speaking to DAZN, did not try to dress it up. Negotiations have stalled, even though both sides say they want the same thing.

“McTominay’s contract renewal? Scott said he doesn’t know if he’ll renew at this time,” Manna revealed.

The Scotland international is tied to Napoli until 2028, but clarity beyond that is missing.

Manna stressed the club’s stance is clear. They want to keep him. McTominay, he insists, wants to stay as well.

“He has a two-year contract, we want to do it, and he wants to do it too. It’s not always easy to make things coincide, but we’re trying,” Manna said, underlining the familiar tension between intention and agreement in elite football.

While the board wrestles with the numbers and the length of the deal, McTominay’s immediate battle is a medical one.

The 29-year-old is in London for a planned procedure after being diagnosed with a mild benign arrhythmia, an irregularity in the heart’s rhythm. Napoli moved quickly once the condition was identified, booking surgery to limit the disruption to their season and ringfencing a return date around mid-October.

Inside the camp, there is no sense of panic. The club are confident he will be back at full tilt before autumn is out.

McTominay has also worked to calm any nerves outside the dressing room. At a recent awards ceremony, he played down the drama and stressed the operation had long been on the agenda.

“I’m fine, the procedure was something I’d planned to do with the club for quite a while,” he said, framing it as precaution rather than crisis.

The timing still hurts. Napoli have already felt the absence of their midfield driving force. McTominay sat out the chaotic 3-2 defeat to Inter Milan, a second straight loss for Massimiliano Allegri’s side and a result that sharpened the focus on what they miss without him in the engine room.

Now comes a punishing stretch. Arsenal, Bologna, Fiorentina. All without the man who so often knits Napoli’s play together and sets the tone out of possession.

Scotland suffer too. For Sebastien Pocognoli, just starting his tenure, this is a brutal early setback.

McTominay, on 73 caps and a symbol of the Tartan Army’s recent resurgence, will miss four key Nations League fixtures against Slovenia, Switzerland and North Macedonia. These are the first competitive steps of the Pocognoli era, and they will be taken without the midfielder who delivered the decisive goals that sealed Scotland’s place at the 2026 World Cup.

On the medical front, Napoli have built a strict, staged plan. No shortcuts.

Manna outlined a two-phase recovery. The first fortnight after surgery is ringfenced for complete rest, giving McTominay’s body the chance to settle and respond to treatment. Only then will he be allowed to move into light work.

Once those 14 days are up, he will return to non-contact competitive activity: gentle training, conditioning, ball work without challenges. The final hurdle, full-contact football, remains the most sensitive step, tied closely to his medication and specialist clearance.

“It will take 28 days for sporting fitness because he will take anticoagulant drugs,” Manna explained. “For two weeks, the player will rest and then resume competitive activity without contact.”

Napoli now wait on two fronts: for their midfield leader to clear every medical box, and for contract talks to finally match the intent both sides insist they share.