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SCOTT McTOMINAY WAS BATTLING for premium real estate in Torino's area like a traditional center-forward. He expected a cross to come, and the Scottish midfielder reacted quickly when Giovanni Di Lorenzo finally whipped one in, turning home the first goal of the game. It was the seventh time McTominay had opened the scoring in a Serie A match this season.

He added another to round out Sunday's 2-0 win for Napoli, bringing him up to 11 goals in the league, more than any Scot has ever scored in a single Serie A campaign, more than even the great Denis Law managed for Torino in 1961-62. Law, of course, went on to play for Manchester United. McTominay, of course, left United to play in Italy.

Leaving United, whose academy he joined at the age of five, was the best thing McTominay could've done, if not the easiest. He was miscast across his 255 appearances for the club, fielded far deeper than his athleticism deserved and demoted when United made a flashy signing. He was forced to prove himself over and over again. His 10 goals in his final full season for the club weren't enough to convince its new executive team that he was worth keeping in an offensive role.

If he was taken for granted in Manchester, as an academy graduate who'd accept the status quo because of his deep ties to the area, he was immediately feted in Naples as a leader with experience in challenging circumstances. Napoli head coach Antonio Conte knew he could count on McTominay to stretch his midfield and crash the box. He knew McTominay could march up and down the field despite his 6-foot-4 frame. And he knew he could get the best out of McTominay if he did what other coaches failed to do and give him the chance to attack the space ahead of him.

Serie A is where British players usually go when they want a fresh start. Their physicality, a necessity in the space-deprived Premier League, stands out in the Italian top flight. It's an asset to have McTominay's two-way play when most midfielders in Serie A are either destroyers or playmakers who excel in tight spaces.

British players are more willing than ever before to explore new cultures, and McTominay is no different. Even if he still answers reporters' questions in English, he doesn't need them translated. He nods as he listens carefully to what they're saying and keeps the answer simple enough for the reporter to relay back in Italian.

Buy-in is crucial in Italy but also richly rewarding as McTominay is learning. While most Neapolitans struggle to pronounce his surname, they've resorted to wonderful nicknames, from "Braveheart" to "McTerminator" and "MacGyver" and, most recently, to "McFratm," a play on the Neapolitan dialect for "brother." He has not only the qualities to break open games for Napoli but to give the fans someone else to idolize after Victor Osimhen and Khivcha Kvaratskhelia. Ever since the days of Diego Maradona, Napoli fans have worshipped outsiders who show they care about a city many Italians find easy to snub.

It helps that McTominay is never too high or two low. He's Mr. Consistent, to add another nickname to the list, and the perfect player for Conte, whose teams need runners like the Scot in order to operate at full throttle. Unlike previous coaches, Conte has asked other players to sacrifice themselves to get the best out of McTominay. Forward Romelu Lukaku has done a lot of the dirty work, using his big frame to draw the attention of defenders and create space for his teammates to infiltrate. Lukaku did it against Torino, and McTominay was there, as he usually is, to make the most of his chances.

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