Scott McTominay’s celebration after he opened his account for Napoli in their Coppa Italia clash against Palermo has got people talking.
The 27-year-old Scotland international, who ended his 22-year stay with Manchester United in August, has already become a fan favourite in Naples.
He impressed on his full debut against Juventus at the weekend and received widespread praise from the Italian media, including Corriere dello Sport, who described him as a “dominant all-rounder”.
And on Thursday night, a revitalised McTominay scored his first goal for Napoli in an emphatic 5-0 win over Palermo in the Coppa Italia.
Cyril Ngonge scored an early brace for Antonio Conte‘s side in the second round clash before Juan Jesus and David Neres gave the home side a much-deserved four goal lead.
But the biggest cheer of the night came in the 77th minute, when second-half substitute McTominay converted from inside the box after a great piece of play from Romelu Lukaku.
After rubbing salt into Palermo’s wounds, the midfielder proceeded to celebrate by kissing the Napoli badge – a gesture that certainly got people talking online.
One fan commented: “Scott McTominay kissing the Napoli badge after being there 5 minutes,” while another said: “Badge kiss already?”
A third wrote: “I like him and I’m happy for him but kissing the badge after a couple of games is cringe.”
A fourth said: “Scott McTominay kissing the napoli badge. Just to prove we live in a simulation,” and a fifth added: “Find someone in your life who will fall in love with you like McTominay fell in love with Naples.”
McTominay has certainly made an impression with the club’s fanbase. In fact, earlier this week, he endeared himself further with an open letter to Napoli supporters.
“My name is Scott McTominay, I come from Lancaster, England and I am a central midfielder for Napoli,” he began.
“My life and career have been focused exclusively on football. My family did everything they could to help me travel across England to play football with Manchester United as a child. Then over the years I played in all categories until I made my debut in the first team and played a few games.
“I was a very competitive child, I would say to the point of being too competitive for a child. The feeling of defeat always hurts more than the feeling of pride when you win. So for me it is important to have control of this aspect. Obviously now that I’m here, I want to play very well and focus on helping the team. My football idols were Wayne Rooney and Zinedine Zidane, players like that.
“I always watched them a lot and wanted to pay attention to everything they did in the game and try to emulate them even as a child. The emotions that football has given me have been so many. I love this game, I love playing it and I have a great desire to win and be successful. I want to give my best every time I train and every time I play to give the best of myself, to help my teammates and the coach.
“The pride of playing here is really special and when I found out that Napoli was interested in me I felt the fire inside me. I wanted to come here and push as much as possible because the fans are crazy, I would say they are some of the best fans I have ever seen. Incredible.
“I can’t talk enough about the fans, the people, the city and the welcome that my teammates and coaches gave me.”