Scott McTominay: Europa League final win would ‘lay a foundation’ for next season

Midfielder Scott McTominay feels that a win for Manchester United in the Europa League final would ‘lay a foundation’ for next season. The Red Devils play Villarreal in the Europa final on 26^th May in Gdansk. “That’s first and foremost, the foundation that we’ve set is to go and win a trophy. It’s something the whole team have worked for throughout the whole season, something that’s really important to us,” he said in a press conference.

“We’ve paid the competition big respect in terms of the way we’ve wanted to win and stuff like that so it really does lay a foundation and a good feeling for next season as well. I feel like for us we’re in a really positive situation in terms of where we want to be, finishing strong in the Europa League towards the end of the season.”

McTominay reckons the mood in the camp is “positive” and the final is a big chance to really make a statement. “Obviously going into next season we want to have that feeling of really pushing and giving everything we’ve got,” he added. “Right now I feel like the feeling’s positive between the whole group. We’ve got a really big squad, not many injuries and everybody really fighting fit and hoping to get in the team for the final. For us, it’s an opportunity to really put a statement down for next season as well.”

‘Will to win’

Saying that winning mentality has to be a given at Old Trafford, McTominay believes that “the will to win” is the most important aspect. “It’s the winning mentality which has to be a given at this football club. We have to go into every single competition like it’s the last game that we’ll play in,” he added.

“We have to be fighting every single day to prove to the coaches that we should be in the team first and foremost and that we’ve got everything a Manchester United player requires: hard work, determination, quality and the will to win. And the will to win at the end is probably the most important thing.”

The midfielder also accepted that the fixtures “haven’t been kind to us.” But he hopes that the team gets rewarded for the way they approached them. “We are at the business end of season now and we have to have guys in the team who will do absolutely everything in their power to help us win,” McTominay explained.

“The fixtures haven’t been kind to us. We know that. The fixtures have been a shambles to be fair. For the way that we’ve approached them as a group, and the way that we’ve come together as a team to really push through, hopefully we’ll get our rewards at the end of the season with a trophy.”