Scott McTominay and Rasmus Hojlund Face New Reality at Napoli with Allegri

Scott McTominay and Rasmus Hojlund are staring at a very different Napoli to the one they thought they were signing up for.

Antonio Conte has gone. In his place, Massimiliano Allegri – a serial winner with Juventus, but a coach whose latest spell in Milan ended with the sack and no Champions League football – is set to walk through the doors at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

For two former Manchester United players trying to build or rebuild their reputations, it is a major twist.

Allegri in, unrest in the stands

Allegri, 58, has reportedly agreed a two-year deal to succeed Conte, according to Sky Sports. On paper, Napoli are turning to one of Italian football’s most decorated coaches, a man who last lifted the Scudetto in 2018 with Juventus and has a stack of domestic honours behind him.

On the streets and online, the mood is very different.

Sections of the Gli Azzurri support have already launched an online campaign against the move, arguing that Allegri’s profile and pragmatic approach clash with the club’s vision and the free-flowing identity that powered their recent title win. For them, this feels like a step backwards, not a bold new era.

Allegri arrives with questions hanging over him. His most recent stint at Milan soured badly enough to cost him his job, and the club has undergone a sweeping rebuild since he left. Now he inherits a Napoli side that has tasted success, stumbled, and expects to challenge again immediately.

McTominay’s rise, and the noise around him

In the middle of that storm stands McTominay, whose move from Manchester United to Napoli in 2024 has proved a revelation.

The Scotland international has been one of Serie A’s standout performers since landing in southern Italy, driving Napoli to the Serie A title in his first season at the club. His blend of energy, timing and penalty-box threat has not gone unnoticed back in England.

Premier League clubs are circling. Transfer speculation has followed his form, and Conte’s exit will only turn up the volume. A manager who championed him has gone; a new one with different ideas is on the way. For a player in his prime, that shift matters.

Does he remain the heartbeat of Allegri’s midfield, or does a new system open the door to a return to England? The question now feels sharper than ever.

Hojlund’s permanent leap

Hojlund’s situation is different, but no less intriguing.

The Danish striker joined Napoli on loan from United last season, linking up again with McTominay in an attack that ultimately fell short of defending the title. Napoli finished second, 11 points behind champions Inter Milan, a gap that underlined how far they had slipped from their peak.

Even so, Hojlund’s future is effectively already written into the paperwork. United agreed an obligation-to-buy clause that would make his move permanent for £38 million if Napoli qualified for the Champions League. They did. The condition has been met.

The deal has not yet been formally confirmed, but Hojlund is expected to complete his permanent switch to Napoli in the coming weeks. Conte’s departure is not expected to derail that process; the agreement is in place, and Napoli still want him.

So the 21-year-old is set to commit the next phase of his career to a club about to change its footballing identity under Allegri, rather than the high-intensity Conte blueprint he initially signed up for.

A new project, new pressures

Napoli’s recent trajectory has been dramatic: champions with McTominay at the heart of it, then runners-up, 11 points off Inter, and now a controversial coaching appointment that has split opinion among supporters.

For Allegri, this is a chance to restore his reputation at a club that expects to fight for the Scudetto and make a dent in Europe. For Napoli’s hierarchy, it is a bet on experience over romance.

For McTominay and Hojlund, it is something more personal. One has already proved he can dominate Serie A. The other is about to make a £38m leap of faith. Both now have to do it under a manager the fanbase never asked for.

How they respond to that challenge will shape not just Napoli’s next chapter, but the next act of their own careers far from Old Trafford.