United sold McTominay to Napoli in August, with the Scotland international thriving in Italy under coach Antonio Conte.
Reflecting on his time with United, he told the Athletic: “When I got into the first team, I was quite misprofiled in where I was playing,” he said. “It wasn’t the fault of any coaches. My strengths have always been getting into the box, scoring goals, being a problem in there.
"But I was being used as a No 6, or as a centre-back, and that has never really been my game. But when you’re playing for Manchester United and you’re 20, you can’t knock on the manager’s door and say that you expect to be playing at No 8 ahead of Paul Pogba. It’s not realistic.
"You have to know your place, and do what you’re asked to do. In the last few seasons, I began to get into the box a bit more, to score more goals, and then last year was my best one.”
McTominay continued: "They would always sign someone who wouldn’t necessarily be what people expected them to be. My mentality was that I was always there, ready to go, ready to take my opportunity.
"I always wanted to prove my worth, to show I could play every game. It’s not the sort of thing that affects me. You can only be in control of what you do."