There are few gestures in modern football as quietly telling as the exchange of a match shirt. For Jose Mourinho, such a moment — offered by Scott McTominay after Benfica’s victory over Napoli — became an unexpected human punctuation point in the aftermath of a bruising Champions League night.

The veteran Portuguese manager, speaking with characteristic wit and warmth during his post-match press conference, produced a shopping bag for the assembled reporters and revealed its modest content: McTominay’s shirt, handed to him after the Scotland international’s side had extinguished Napoli’s hopes in the group stage clash. The anecdote was served with a dry Mourinho flourish: “I put him in, I benched Paul Pogba for him at Manchester United,” he quipped, to the delight of the room.

It was a throwback to a small but significant moment in both men’s careers. Mourinho first entrusted McTominay with his Champions League debut in 2017 while managing Manchester United — a decision that marked the beginning of a relationship the manager now describes as enduring. Over his tenure at Old Trafford, Mourinho gave the young midfielder repeated opportunities, and the two developed a rapport that, the manager insists, still means something today.

The gift, Mourinho said, was a token of that bond. “He was sad because he had lost, but this is Scott; this is the nature of winning players,” Mourinho added, noting McTominay’s professionalism despite Napoli’s victory. The striker of the exchange — and the lightness of Mourinho’s recollection of dropping a marquee name like Pogba to give McTominay a chance — underlined how football’s career arcs loop back upon themselves. “He’ll still remember me when he’s 70,” Mourinho reflected, half brag, half genuine pride.

McTominay’s journey since leaving Manchester United has been notable. The 29-year-old midfielder moved to Napoli ahead of the 2024–25 season and quickly embedded himself in a side that would go on to win their fourth Scudetto under Antonio Conte. In Naples, McTominay reaffirmed his credentials as a combative midfielder with an eye for goal and a capacity to perform across high-pressure contexts. His performances earned plaudits and culminated in a Most Valuable Player award in his new league — recognition that cemented the sense he had made the right move away from Old Trafford.

Against Benfica, he was a prominent figure despite the result. Mourinho said the player seemed downcast after the loss, but the manager was quick to acknowledge McTominay’s current form: “He’s very happy at Napoli; he’s having a good moment.” That assessment hinted at the complexity of professional sport, where individual momentum and team outcomes do not always align.

Napoli, for their part, are navigating a precarious European campaign. Their loss to Benfica deepened concerns about the club’s Champions League prospects — a stark contrast to their domestic success. As the article noted, Napoli find themselves perilously close to the drop zone in the group standings, occupying 24th and flirting with elimination from the competition. The short-term implications of such a position are stark: Napoli face an uphill battle to reverse course, and the pressure now concentrates on the remaining fixtures. Their next assignment, a high-stakes clash with Premier League opposition Chelsea in late January, looms as a potential turning point — a match that could reshape their chances of advancing.

Mourinho’s lighthearted jab about Pogba being benched that day in Manchester carried deeper undertones. It was a reminder that managers make choices that ripple through careers, for better and for worse. In McTominay’s case, Mourinho’s faith paid dividends; the midfielder’s steady rise from promising academy product to key Napoli performer speaks to resilience and adaptability. For Mourinho, who has navigated eras and squads across Europe, the gift of a former player’s shirt was a sentimental affirmation that his interventions can leave a lasting mark.

There was also an element of mutual respect on display. McTominay, according to Mourinho, approached the manager after the match and conversed for a brief but meaningful five minutes. It was the kind of exchange that societies of professionals value: a handshake, a few words of consolation, a shared acknowledgement of the beautiful and brutal nature of the game. “He spoke to me for five minutes, but he was down in the dumps,” Mourinho said, adding that he saw in the player the “nature of winning players” — a temperament forged by high expectations and the pain of narrow losses.

The conversation between the two men also highlighted a wider dynamic in European football: the constant reshuffling of talent across leagues. McTominay’s move from Manchester to Naples, and the subsequent loan of former United teammate Rasmus Hojlund to the Amalfi Coast — an attempt to replicate continental success — reflect how Premier League alumni find new life abroad. For Napoli, recruiting and integrating such players helped catalyse their domestic triumph. Yet that success doesn’t guarantee smooth passage in Europe, where tactical matchups and group dynamics can produce very different outcomes.

As Napoli managers and players reckon with their Champions League predicament, the human moments endure. Mourinho’s anecdote offered a pause from tactical analysis and headline panic: the sight of a manager with a former prodigy’s shirt, smiling and recalling the day he once favored the newbie over a global star.

For McTominay, the present remains a mixed ledger: personal success in Italy, fresh accolades, and a place in a team that captured the imagination domestically — tempered by the sting of continental defeat. For Mourinho, the episode reconfirmed something he’s long known about the sport: careers are built on small chances, and sometimes those chances yield friendships and gestures that outlast trophies and headlines.

The match may have swung Benfica’s way, and Napoli may yet face elimination. But beneath the scoreboard, the exchange of a shirt quietly told a larger story — of mentorship, of risk, and of a football life that goes on, beyond any single result.