Scotland to beat Southgate in the battle for McTominay

MANCHESTER UNITED’S highly rated young midfielder Scott Mctominay is set to commit himself to Scotland instead of England.

the 21-year- old, who has enjoyed a breakthrough season under Jose Mourinho at United, was born in Lancaster but qualifies for Scotland through his grandparents.

Gareth Southgate was hopeful Mctominay would agree to represent England but Scotland boss Alex McLeish has won the race. McLeish has spoken with Mctominay, who has appeared 15 times in all competitions this season — with eight of those coming in the Premier League. He has yet to play for either country at any level.

the development comes as United manager Mourinho urged Mctominay to focus on his club career after previously hinting he hoped he would select Scotland.

‘I have given Scott my advice but I think the advice of his parents is more important than mine,’ said Mourinho. ‘His own heart is more important than my advice, because mine is given purely from a career point of view.

‘More important than his career is his feeling, his family’s feeling and also the overall situation with him.

‘ He’s going to have a very good career independently of his international choice — if he has the choice, because maybe Scotland or England don’t want to select him.

‘But the most important thing is for him to feel good with himself.’

In United’s Champions League first-leg trip to Sevilla last month, Mctominay started instead of £89million Paul Pogba in midfield.

the young star signed a new contract in October to keep him at Old trafford until 2021, having made his senior debut against Arsenal in May 2017.